Life After Aizen
by Luppi-tan
Summary: Does life continue after the now infamous captain is killed? Of course it does. Ichigo is brought to Soul Society to become a captain, and his relationship with the younger adopted sister of a certain Kuchiki deepens. IchiRuki, ToshiKarin.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: I'll Never Bow to You

"You may be my captain, but I'll _never_ bow to you! You're nothing more than a murderer! You killed Captain Aizen!!" Hinamori screamed at Ichigo, her face cherry red and her voice shaking with barely suppressed rage. Ichigo had known people to get angry at him for his stand-offish attitude, but never this angry. And he hadn't even done anything wrong. He merely killed Aizen, and the entire Soul Society was grateful, well, the entire Soul Society, save Hinamori Momo. The worst part was, though, that she had burst out like this at Ichigo's coronation ceremony when he was receiving his captain's robe. Naturally, along with receiving the robe, it was traditional for the lieutenant of the squad to bow to the new captain to show their respect and willingness to serve. Ichigo didn't think that was going to happen, though.

"Hinamori Momo!" the commander-general said in a stern voice. "You _will_ show your respect to Captain Kurosaki. Do not allow your personal feelings to interfere with your…"

"It's alright, Commander-General. She doesn't have to bow if she doesn't want to…" Ichigo said quietly to the surprise of many of the captains and lieutenants standing before them. Ichigo always had a bit of a scary look on his face, but apparently he was nicer than he looked. Most people, whether or not they were captains, would be incensed to be accused of being a murderer in front of all of their comrades. But Ichigo just stood there and took the insult like it was nothing. Someone had to kill him, though, and why not Ichigo? True, his method of becoming a Shinigami had been unconventional at best, but he was probably one of the most powerful captains in the Soul Society, and he had even destroyed his inner hollow.

Ichigo bowed to Commander General Yamamoto and donned his robe before walking slowly out of the hall, leaving Momo glaring at him from behind. Ichigo had appeared unfazed by Momo's accusation throughout the ceremony. However, inside, it had deeply shaken him. He had been fighting an internal battle for over a year, now, since he had killed Aizen. He had known that Aizen was a terrible person who had done terrible things, but still, he had never been forced to kill another Shinigami. It hadn't been like slaying Hollows, or even Arrancar. He didn't know who he could talk to, though. Renji would just say to get over it. Rukia would probably hit him for being an idiot, which, he probably was being an idiot, and he didn't really know anyone else well enough to talk to them, except perhaps Urahara Kisuke, or Shihoin Yoruichi. They were definite possibilities. He had never before been forced to kill another Shinigami, and it felt awful.

He could feel himself being patted on the shoulder and hear himself being greeted, now as Captain Kurosaki, by people who knew him, but he was lost in his own world. He couldn't leave it for anyone, lest he break down and start crying on the spot. Captains didn't cry. Kurosaki Ichigo didn't cry. He had sworn right after his mother died that he would never cry again, that he would never burden anyone with his problems. He slowly trudged through the Seireitei, so deep in thought that he hardly even noticed when he practically plowed right through a female Shinigami and stepped on her glasses. In fact, he would have kept right on going had the woman not stopped him.

"Hey! You've got a lot of nerve, just running right over a lieutenant like that… And you stepped on my glasses!? Who do you think you are!?" she said indignantly. Nanao wasn't usually given to such bouts of aggression, but she couldn't see for shit without her glasses, and he had just crushed them. Of course, she could mend them in an instant, but that wasn't the point. She figured she would make him do it, just on principal.

"Oh, sorry Lieutenant Ise…" Ichigo said numbly, hardly paying attention. He bent down and picked up her glasses, muttering the Kidô that would fix them, and watching as they flew back together. Nanao put on her glasses once more and brushed off her robes before finally noticing who she had been talking to.

"C-Captain Kurosaki!! P-please forgive my rudeness. I must not have been…"

"Don't apologize. I hate it when people apologize to me. I was a little bit distracted. I didn't mean to run you over." Ichigo muttered, not even acknowledging the fact that she could not possibly have been at the coronation ceremony if she was all the way out there when he ran into her, walking toward where the ceremony had been.

"Um… H-have a good day, captain," she said distractedly, rushing off with her book once again in her arms. Shortly after, Kyoraku Shunsui came after her and stopped to smile at Ichigo.

"It looks like you gave my lieutenant a bit of a scare. However, I was surprised that you were able to plow right through her. She may look delicate, but she's no pushover."

"Um… No… Of… Well… I know…" Ichigo said, his thoughts fragmenting more and more the longer he spoke. Kyoraku looked at him curiously and laughed.

"Ah, well. Would you like to have some Sake with me, Ichigo?" Kyoraku asked jovially, hoping that he could get Ichigo to loosen up a bit on his first day as a captain. After all, being a captain was a stressful job, well, not for Shunsui, because he was the laziest man alive, most likely, but for most, it was stressful. He had even gotten Toshiro to drink with him on his first night, and the small white haired captain laughed the night away. Maybe Ichigo would do the same.

"Um… I'm only 16. I can't drink." Ichigo said, shaking his head and collecting his thoughts. He was starting to think more clearly now, and he wasn't sure that a drink would be such a bad idea.

"The law is a little bit different in Soul Society. There is no age restriction on drinking. It's one of the best things about Seireitei. They have great bars. However, why don't you join me in my quarters?" he said brightly, patting Ichigo on the back, able to sense that he was troubled about something, but not quite sure what. Ichigo sighed and nodded, following Shunsui to his quarters.

He had decorated the room with unusual furnishings and there was even an indoor pond on the right side of the room under a waterfall. The place seemed the picture of tranquility, and Ichigo instantly felt at ease here. There was a nice cool breeze wafting around the room from the open window, and the sunlight streamed through it, lighting up the pond, causing light to flicker across the room on occasion when water droplets splashed up from the waterfall that seemed to run through the building. Ichigo was impressed with how complex this room was, and could only imagine that it had taken a lot of magic to get it this way.

"Ah, I see you like the decorations. Actually, I made it like this when I first became a captain. I had the help of Jushiro, Old Man Yama, and Captain Unohana, of course, but I designed the entire thing myself. The grass that's growing in here and the flowers give it a pretty real feeling don't they? I have a desk and everything, but I've even managed to magic the place to make it sound as though there are birds and other animals in the room. It's like a glade, isn't it?"

"Yes, it's amazing, Captain Kyoraku. How did you think of all this?"

"Oh, well, this entire building is an exact copy of my favorite human world location. Now, let's drink. To our newest captain." Kyoraku said and he began sipping on his sake. Ichigo took a deep swig, and Kyoraku instantly poured more for him. Ichigo didn't really know how much one was generally supposed to drink. He had never learned that in high school, and he had never learned it on his own either, so he drank the second serving and talked for a while with Kyoraku, mostly allowing him to do the talking. There wasn't much that Ichigo had to say. He was a little bit distracted by everything else that was going on, so he hardly noticed when Kyoraku poured a third glass for him and he downed it in one gulp. Kyoraku laughed and poured himself a second helping. He was surprised that Ichigo was going through the sake so quickly, but he was pleased at least to see that Ichigo was enjoying himself.

Before long, however, Ichigo had drunk seven cups of sake and was completely wasted. Ichigo swayed where he sat, hardly able to sit up straight. His eyes slid in and out of focus as he tried to concentrate long enough to see where Kyoraku was.

"Hey, C-captain…" he slurred, his words sounding less like words and more like vague sounds. Kyoraku waved at him and called, getting his attention.

"Is Hinamori-san always so emotional, or am I jus' that much of a bastard?" Ichigo asked drunkenly, hiccupping and taking another swig of sake and dribbling it down his chin and onto his robes. Kyoraku looked at him sympathetically.

"Hinamori is just angry. She feels you are trying to replace Aizen, and, I suppose you are. But, she'll grow used to you, probably. Is it that you like Hinamori? She is rather cute."

"No, no… *Hic*. I jus'… 'S'nothin'…" Ichigo said. Even when he was drunk, he was closed to others. Kyoraku's plan wasn't working as well as he had thought that it would. Ichigo was drunk as hell, but he wasn't opening up at all. He was surprised, though. Even Toshiro, the most distant captain among the Thirteen Court Guards had opened up. But apparently Ichigo wasn't that easy to probe.

The next morning, Ichigo awoke to a raging headache and a bad need to throw up. He shot up from the ground and ran over to a tree, and right before he was about to hurl, Kyoraku stopped him.

"Please don't desecrate my office. It may look like a natural glade, but that's still a wooden floor on which you are kneeling. Here's a garbage bag. Feel free to keep it."

Ichigo nodded and grabbed the bag, throwing up into the plastic, instantly feeling a little bit better. It wasn't enough, though. He threw up a second time, and then a third, coughing and hacking as he did, racking his throat with pain as the contents of his stomach came flying out of his mouth and into the bag. He was glad that he at least had a bag, though. He sighed in relief as he finished and then he walked out of the room and into the bathroom to wash his mouth out with some mouthwash, which felt refreshing against the sour taste of last night's alcohol and vomit. He spit and then stood up, seeing Kyoraku standing in front of him, laughing.

"I see you found the bathroom alright. That's good. How are you feeling?" he asked. Ichigo glared at Kyoraku, who gulped and stepped back. Ichigo had finally figured out that it had been Kyoraku's plan all along to get him drunk. He couldn't believe that he had gone along with Kyoraku's cockamamie plan, in spite of his better judgment. Everything around him seemed horribly loud and bright. Kyoraku's robe, which was usually a soft pink, seemed fluorescent and his voice, which usually was soft and gentle, seemed like it was booming louder than a loudspeaker that was echoing in a huge cavern. He could hear each drop of water in the sink, hitting the porcelain bowl and splashing, making an unbearable racket. He could hear crickets and birds from Kyoraku's quarter's chirping up a storm that sounded louder than thunder. Ichigo had to cover his ears and walk quickly out of the room. Unfortunately, everywhere else in the building was worse. The sunlight streaming through the windows seemed to bring white hot blindness to Ichigo and every step that he took echoed and reverberated off of the floor and the walls. Finally, he got dressed and ran out of the building, hoping to find some comfort in his own quarters, which were unfortunately halfway across the Seireitei. It was pretty quiet out so early in the morning, but there were a few early birds taking a morning walk or something, and unfortunately, he had not made it fifty yards when he was stopped.

"Hey, Kurosaki! Watch it! You almost bumped into me!!" came an angry, loud yell from mere feet away. It could only have been Soi Fon, who was known for her temper, and widely disliked. Normally, Ichigo would have apologized, but today, he was only interested in having solitude and quiet.

"Could you please not yell!?"

"Excuse me!?" Soi Fon replied, louder still. Ichigo groaned.

"I don't feel well, and I'm trying not to pass out from your exceptionally loud and abrasive voice, _captain_!" he shouted sarcastically, not thinking about the irony of yelling at someone to quiet down. Soi Fon looked like she was about to say something else, but then Yoruichi came along and grinned at Ichigo.

"G'morning, Ichigo. Hi, Soi Fon-chan…" she said, nibbling a bit on Soi Fon's ear, causing the younger captain to blush heavily and shudder.

"Lady Yoruichi!" she cried, turning bright red, small tears glistening in the corners of her eyes. "Not in front of this peasant!"

"Oh, calm down. What's the use in getting angry? If he says that he doesn't feel well, it would explain why he wants you not to yell. Let's let him get back to his own bed and settle in. And for the future, Ichigo, don't drink with Kyoraku. He has no restraint when serving sake." She whispered and then disappeared with Soi Fon, picking her up bridal style and using Shunpo to disappear. Ichigo sighed and continued to slowly make his way back to his own quarters, which fortunately, were no longer that far away if he used Shunpo, which he decided would be easier than walking.

When he got to his front door, he sighed with relief and opened it, only to be greeted by a loud and boisterous cheer of "CONGRATULATIONS!!!" and in addition, he heard the popping of several streamer cannons, which shot their contents all over his floor in a squawk of confetti and smoke. After a moment, he noticed the individual people there. Rukia, Renji, Kenpachi, Yachiru, Ikkaku, Yumichika, and even Byakuya, who was standing there, having just blown on a party whistle while still wearing his usual deadpan face. He could see why Rukia, Renji and Ikkaku might be there, but he wondered a bit about Byakuya and the rest of them. They weren't close friends or anything, and Ichigo doubted if Byakuya even liked him. After all, the stoic captain had never shown any sign of even really respecting Ichigo. While it was true that he seemed not to particularly object to Ichigo being a captain, that could just have been because he was so powerful, and much needed in the Soul Society. The only thing that Byakuya seemed to care about was his precious set of rules, and perhaps Rukia, although he had an odd way of showing it.

"Congratulations on becoming a captain, Ichigo… Er… Captain Kurosaki…" Rukia said brightly and a little bit louder than Ichigo would have liked, but underneath her bright tone was a secret nervousness that seemed to lace her entire demeanor. He was happy to see Rukia, and everyone else, though. He had been a little bit nervous at first that his becoming a captain would isolate him from everyone else that he had formerly been friends with. Apparently, that wasn't true, though. Wait. Had Rukia just called him "captain"? Maybe she had been joking, but she didn't look like she was. Ichigo laughed nervously and looked at Rukia.

"What's up, Rukia? Why are you calling me 'captain'? I'm still the same person I've always been."

"Well… Um…" Rukia began, looking nervously into Ichigo's face and then glancing away.

"I-it's just… A little bit different, now that you're a captain. Nobody expected you to defeat Aizen, Cap… Ichigo." She said, forcing herself to use his name. "You were made a captain in the Soul Society because you were able to do things that not even any of the other captains could have done. You're exceptional, even by Shinigami standards. You became a Shinigami when you were still a human. You learned Bankai in three days and used it to defeat Nii-sama. You went into Hueco Mundo and rescued Orihime, defeating Aizen's most powerful Espada and then killing Aizen, something that not even Commander-General Yamamoto was sure if he could do, and in the process, you completely merged your hollow half and your Shinigami half. C… Ichigo, you'll have to forgive us if a few people feel a little bit intimidated by your power."

"S-so… You're scared of me, now?" Ichigo asked, causing Renji to look over concernedly.

"Ichigo, that isn't what she meant! Remember when you fought Aizen in Soul Society? He stopped your Bankai with one finger and nearly cut you in half at the waist. Now imagine if you had less than half the power you had at the time, and were facing someone with more power than Aizen. How do you think you would feel!? It's only natural to feel a little bit unnerved by such a level of power that Rukia and I could never hope to achieve if we had a thousand years of training!"

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend anyone…" Ichigo said quietly, almost forgetting that there had been a party there in his honor and walking out of the room and going upstairs to find his own bedroom. It was a big building, bigger than his home when he had lived above the Kurosaki Clinic, bigger even than Urahara Shoten, not including the underground training grounds.

Meanwhile, downstairs, everyone stared at Rukia for a moment. Even Renji hadn't expected her to act so timid around Ichigo. It was true that Ichigo had a frightening amount of power, but for her to act as though she barely knew him was odd to see.

"I'm sorry!" she suddenly shouted, unable to take the staring of everyone, and she ran out the front door, slamming it and sitting down on the front step. For a moment, she didn't know what to think, and then, after her initial shock subsided, she broke down, sobbing. She was afraid, but not of Ichigo, though. She was afraid of losing him. She had seen what power could do to people. More than one seemingly good person in Soul Society had been corrupted by power, and it wasn't pretty when it happened. She was a little bit afraid of losing him to the power, but more than that, she was afraid that he was just in such a different place from her that they wouldn't be able to continue being friends. She was so upset that she didn't even realize when Byakuya sat down next to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You know, you look more like Hisana than ever, and yet, you're completely different from her. You know, when I joined the Academy, I met a boy with whom I became friendly. All during the Academy, we were the best of friends, and when we graduated, we were put in the same squad. Well, the years went by and I was promoted to lieutenant of Sixth Division, and he stayed 10th seat in 13th Division. Naturally, my duties as lieutenant kept me busy most of the time, and we started to see less and less of each other, and then I was informed that I had been promoted to captain. Soon after that, I saw my friend again, and we went out for drinks together. Things weren't the same anymore, though. He and I were emotionally and spiritually in different places, and when we left, he said that he didn't think that we should continue being friends. He felt isolated from me by a thick wall that just couldn't be penetrated anymore. I don't want to see that happen between you and Kurosaki. I may not approve of everything that he stands for, but I can tell from looking at him that he's a good person who has his friends' best interests at heart. Perhaps you should tell him how you feel."

"I-I couldn't. He would scorn me. I would rather never ask how he feels than to know that he looks down on me."

"Well, if you really feel that way, then perhaps you should wait a while. Just think about it. Just don't wait until it's too late."

"Thank you, Nii-sama…"

"Call me Byakuya. After all, I am your brother."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Homeward Bound

Karin jogged along the side of the street and up the hill where she had met Toshiro for the first time. She had left the house for a while because she was feeling anxious and kind of lost. It was a feeling that she was having a lot lately, and not just because she was twelve, and becoming an adolescent. No. It was something much deeper, or rather, the lack of something. No, not something. It wasn't like she could just write it off as having lost her diary or something like that. It was something much more valuable than that. She was still nominally involved with Don Kanonji and the Karakura Town Superheroes, but she had lost interest in that. It was like her entire existence was empty without that one key ingredient that she was missing. It was like forgetting to put the baking soda in a cake. If you didn't put in the baking soda, the cake wouldn't rise, and it would be more like a pancake. God, she couldn't believe that she was making baking comparisons now, but she knew that metaphorically, the baking soda was missing from her life. Yuzu and Isshin seemed just fine, and she asked this girl that she knew, Tatsuki, and some of her friends, Chad, Uryu, Orihime, Keigo and Mizuiro, but they all said that they didn't even know who she _was_, let alone what could be missing from her life. Karin got the feeling that they were lying, though. She could tell that Jinta and Ururu knew what was up, because as soon as she asked them, they immediately became too busy to hang out.

There was an old guy that ran the shop at which Ururu and Jinta worked, but he was always so mysterious. He always greeted her kindly enough and offered her some tea and cookies, but he never had anything to say about anything important. Whenever she asked him about that particular subject, he would go off on a wildly random tangent that inevitably would be so indicative of him completely ignoring her that she would become infuriated with him and storm out. And what was worse was that he would always call after her "Bye, then! Have a nice day, Miss Kurosaki!" That old man _knew_ her, even before she told him her name, and yet even though he seemed to know a lot about her and her family, more even than she knew, he always addressed her so formally, but with an irritatingly insincere undertone that made her want to punch him in the face. He also always had a dark skinned woman around the shop, and sometimes, when she wasn't around, there was a black cat whose name was the same as the woman's, except that he called the cat _Mr._ Yoruichi. It confused the hell out of her.

She had tried asking her father about the old man, but he said that he didn't know any such person, and gave her a can of mace and a stun gun and told her to use them if he ever made advances on her. This only caused Karin to punch her father. The blonde haired old man was weird, and there was definitely something up with him, but he wasn't a pervert. That much she could tell, at least. Besides, Karin was sure that if she had to, she could at least escape from him. After all, she was stronger than some of the boys in her middle school, and she had gained a reputation already for being super tough.

She had already been jogging for several miles, but she wasn't even out of breath, so, she kept going up the hill, not really paying much attention to the fact that the sun was beginning to set. It was a beautiful evening. The sky was practically on fire with the raging colors of the crepuscular hour. The few clouds that dotted the sky were outlined in brilliant orange and dyed deepest purple and gray. The contrast was shocking to say the least. It was like someone had just splashed the brightest oranges, pinks and reds that they could up in the sky and let them mix into their own explosion of color. The city skyline and the few trees that could be seen were completely black, and throughout Karakura, she could see the streetlights beginning to dot the night. It was beautiful in its own way, but Karin didn't really care. She had only stopped to admire the scenery so that she could take her mind off of what had been bothering her for over a year now.

It was turning into a cool night, and despite the fact that it was still early September, Karin could feel goosebumps rising on her flesh. She shivered and suddenly wished that she had thought to bring a coat. It was only about three miles to get home, of course. She could run that in twenty minutes if she ran fast. But as the sun set further on the horizon, and the blinding orange sky was replaced with a subdued gray one with the stars and the moon beginning to peek out from among the cosmos, it would be a dark run to get to the main streets, which were about a mile away. She was near the park, which was close to the outside of town. This of course meant that there were fewer houses, which meant that she could hear the crickets chirping and the rest of the night animals coming to life and calling out to identify their existence. It was rather peaceful even. It was also lonely, though. She was a mile away from any major building. If she hurt herself here, or if God forbid, she was attacked, there would be nobody to help her.

Karin giggled nervously. She was over-thinking things again, as usual. She was just like someone else whose name escaped her at the time. She was sure that he was close to her. Maybe even a relative. Unfortunately, she couldn't place his name or his face, except that he had a scowl similar to hers, and maybe brown eyes. She also knew, though, that he was gone, maybe even dead, and that there was nothing that she could do to change that. Instead of dwelling on what she couldn't change, as she had already made it to the top of the hill, she started running rather quickly down the hill, knowing that her momentum wouldn't carry her very far if she didn't have a good running start. There weren't any hills after this one, but she wanted to get home as quickly as possible, and twenty or twenty-five minutes could seem like a long time when you were anxious, nervous, and a tad tired from lack of sleep.

She yawned as she ran, groaning from a cramp that was beginning to work its way up her right leg. She had been running for miles that day, and she suddenly stopped for almost ten minutes to stare aimlessly at the clouds and the sunset. What dumb thing to do. Now her leg was cramping, and she still had to get home. At the rate that she was going, it would be almost an hour before she got home, if she moved at a steady pace. She limped along, her right calf hurting her every time she put it down. Because of this, she began to drag it along behind her, hoping that it wouldn't slow her down too much.

She groaned in pain as she passed the first building that showed that she was getting into the city of Karakura Town. She passed by several particularly tall offices that still glowed with light out of their windows. That could only be people who were working late. Dumbasses. It was almost 7:00, and they were still at the office, typing away on their dumb computers, leaving their families at home to go on without them. She couldn't stand people like that who got so absorbed in their work that they forgot about the rest of the world. All thoughts for her stopped, though, when she ran into a white haired kid who looked to be about her age, except that he was wearing samurai robes and had a sword on his back. His snowy white hair and piercing blue-green eyes looked familiar. That scowl that seemed to show that he was looking for something. Had he even noticed her run right into him? Karin stood up and looked the boy up and down. He was dressed strangely, like he was going to a nerd convention or something geeky like that, not that she was one to judge, but it didn't seem like any of the other people on the streets, few though they may have been, could see him, or even remotely cared that he was carrying around a razor sharp katana, which he constantly had his hand on, his fingers tightening around the grip and getting ready to pull it out.

Suddenly, he looked at Karin, and jumped back, drawing his sword and calling out some weird battle cry, something like "rule over the frozen skies, Daiguren Hyorinmaru" though she couldn't quite tell, since he spoke in a weird dialect with an even weirder accent. It sounded like a Kanto dialect in a westerner's accent. After all, what else could he be but a westerner with those greenish blue eyes and stark white hair? Granted, he could have bleached his hair and worn contacts, but he seemed a bit out of sync with the times, given that he was wielding a sword, and calling out battle cries. Unfortunately for her, she had no time to ponder much, as suddenly, the skies turned dark and stormy, and a bluish, icy dragon erupted from his sword, complete with wings and glowing red eyes, then the ice all consolidated onto his body and formed what looked like a dragon with a tail and wings. He immediately jumped up into the air, higher than she had ever seen anyone jump before and stayed there, as if suspended in midair. He then glared at her.

"Come, Arrancar. You have come to fight us, right?" he asked, staring hard at Karin, swinging his sword.

Before he could attack, though, he was hit from behind by a red beam of light that seemed to have some substance, like a laser beam. It struck him and then the ice on his back shattered and he fell to the ground.

"That is correct, Shinigami. But it appears as though we have an intruder on our battle. Had you paid closer attention, you would have realized that she is but a pitiful human. Weak, scrawny and powerless. Fit for nothing more than to be an appetizer for us Hollows. Of course, this one doesn't even look like she'd be an appetizer. Maybe I'll save you for dessert, girl."

"Bas… tard." The boy gasped furiously, struggling to stand up. Karin, having forgotten completely about getting home or even about her leg rushed over to him and tried to help, ripping the sleeve of her tee shirt off in order to wipe up the blood on his back.

"Get off of me, human! You don't know what you're dealing with! Why don't you run home to your mother and forget that you ever saw any of this!?"

Before she could take his advice, though, he passed out. The Arrancar, as he had called it, must have been extremely powerful if it could hurt the boy so severely with a single attack. Maybe it had some kind of concealed gun, though, and maybe it had a ton of other dangerous weapons. The only one that she could see was a sword on the Arrancar's belt, but she could feel a dangerous aura emanating from it, like it was oozing death and destruction. It was an oddly familiar feeling, like she had been in that boat before, so to speak. However, she couldn't quite place where she had felt it before. It was more powerful than anything she had ever felt, and it was so oppressive, so agonizingly painful that it took everything she had not to break down into hysterics. No. It was a fear beyond that of what crying could represent. It was pure death. Pure evil, and pure destruction. Nothing in any human language could properly describe it to someone who hadn't felt it for themselves. It was like she was being crushed slowly to death by thick, malignant and white hot invisible pressure that was everywhere and yet so powerful that it seemed that it could only possibly be concentrated right on her.

Karin could feel her entire body shaking, and felt saliva dripping down her chin. Now she couldn't even control her own body. It was like her brain was shutting down. She could see the Arrancar, but it was like she was seeing it through a haze. Her brain was beginning to shut down, and her sight was beginning to go. The closer that monster got to her, the thicker the haze became, and the harder it became to stay conscious. The thing, whatever it really was, smirked at her and patted her condescendingly on the head, cocking his head as if to show that he understood and then he walked over to the white haired boy and crouched down.

"He will be dead in a few minutes. It wasn't hard to finish him with a Cero blast from behind. I imbued the blast with as much power as I could spare. I even momentarily released my Zanpakuto in order to make it more powerful. I didn't need to fight in my released state, but it was fun to watch the shocked look on his face when he realized that you weren't actually an enemy, but rather nothing more than a pathetic human. I wonder if all Shinigami are so stupid, He was so tense that he didn't even bother to check to see if your spiritual energy matched that of an Arrancar. In fact, he didn't even look for something like this…" the monster said softly, looking over at Karin. When she didn't look at him, though, he became angry.

"LOOK AT ME YOU PIECE OF HUMAN TRASH!! HOW DARE YOU IGNORE ME!!??" he screamed, grabbing her by the neck and forcing her to look at the fragment of his mask. However, Karin was completely blind by now. There was nothing but a pure white static in her eyes, and though tears were leaking from them, it wasn't because she was afraid. She wasn't able to think clearly enough to be afraid anymore. Her entire brain had shut down and she knew nothing but darkness and silence.

The Arrancar angrily threw Karin into a building, which cracked the brick wall, and broke several of Karin's ribs and her shoulder and then he watched with sadistic satisfaction as she landed with a thud on the ground.

"I was going to eat the Shinigami first, but you piss me off, you stupid bitch! You dare to ignore your obvious better, you act like I'm not even here, like you can't hear me or even see me, and now, you will die, human!"

The Arrancar dove down with his bare hand, but was stopped by the tip of a huge Zanpakuto. The Arrancar looked up and saw an orange haired Shinigami in the same white captain's robe as the white haired boy had been wearing, except with long sleeves. Ichigo smirked at the Arrancar and pushed, running right through its hand with his blade. The Arrancar roared in agony and jumped back, drawing his sword. Ichigo prepared his sword, going into Bankai mode, and staring hard at the Arrancar. The Arrancar snickered and then stopped, looking at him closer.

"I see. You are the one who slew Aizen. Most admirable, I must say. However, we've not yet even begun to fight. I and a few of my comrades know the truth behind the entire situation in Hueco Mundo."

"Oh? And what is the truth?" Ichigo asked cockily, looking down with concern at Karin, who made no indication that she was conscious, or even alive.

"Well, as I'm sure a _captain_ such as yourself will already have found out, Lord Ichimaru has escaped from the Seireitei prison. Yes, take a moment to get over the shock… Ready? Good. Anyway, from the very beginning, Lord Ichimaru manipulated Aizen, who believed that he was actually the mastermind. It is true that Tossen was loyal to Aizen all along, but with Aizen secretly in Lord Ichimaru's pocket, it was not hard to manipulate him as well. Now, like I said, Lord Ichimaru was the actual mastermind behind the entire betrayal of the Soul Society, and the Arrancar War. You thought that you won by killing Aizen and capturing Lord Ichimaru and Tossen. No. That isn't the truth. You merely played right into Lord Ichimaru's plans. He was having a great deal of fun ruling Hueco Mundo from behind the scenes while Aizen unknowingly played Lord Ichimaru's game. See, Lord Ichimaru played to Aizen's belief that he was more powerful than any in the Soul Society, even the Commander-General. And that was true when the two first met. However, Lord Ichimaru was much smarter and quicker than Aizen. He led Aizen to believe that he recruited Lord Ichimaru and that he was truly in charge. Lord Ichimaru faithfully played Aizen's lapdog, and his lieutenant for fifty years, and then became the Third Division captain. That was when he got some time to plan away from Aizen. On that trip to the human world when he and Aizen 'saved' those Academy students from the Huge Hollows, Lord Ichimaru 'borrowed' the Hogyoku and broke the seal, hollowfying himself outside of Aizen's knowledge. After that, he perfected his inner hollow to the point where he no longer needed his mask. He could have killed Aizen at any time and taken the throne for himself, but he enjoyed manipulating Aizen, plus, if his plan somehow failed, then Aizen would take the fall, and Gin would be free to continue on his own.

"I suppose that you know about the time that you went to Seireitei and how they believe the events went down. I won't elaborate, since they were fairly accurate in their portrayal, and most of what happened afterwards was also Aizen's doing, as most of the Arrancar believed Aizen to be their leader, not Lord Ichimaru. Interestingly enough, Aizen being killed in the Winter War was all part of Lord Ichimaru's plan. Of course, now that you know all this, I can't merely let you escape alive. I am not as weak as the former Espada, though, and you will find that I can't be beaten in the same brutishly direct fashion. It is impressive that you defeated Aizen, but I am even stronger than him. You will find that I am invincible as far as you are concerned. Feast, Vampira…"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Recrudescent Memories

Slowly, Karin felt herself returning to consciousness. It was an uphill battle to awaken from her complete emotional and mental shutdown, but she made the struggle, and tried to focus on one object, a blurry patch of white with a bright auburn blur framing it on top of a yellow, vaguely "V". She felt like she knew who this person was that was next to her, like she had met her dozens of times before, even though she wasn't sure if she even knew the person's name. She had a gentle and caring aura, though, and she smelled nice, too. She used lilac scented shampoo, the same kind that Karin herself used.

For a while, the person slid in and out of focus at random intervals, but after a few moments of hard concentration, Karin managed to force a face to come into perspective, and she found that she was looking up at a high school girl wearing the Karakura High uniform and using a strange power that was completely healing her. She instantly felt the warmth seeping back into her body and realized that the girl had taken off her own jacket and put it over her. The girl was only wearing short sleeves, though, so she had to be cold. Karin sat up, pushing the girl off of her and looking intensely into her eyes. Almost immediately, though, she remembered the white haired boy and looked around for him.

"Captain Hitsugaya is alright. I took care of him first since his wounds were most severe. You need to rest now, though, Karin-chan. You still don't look well, and you're a little bit feverish."

"I…noue-san…?" Karin said, the girl's name slowly coming back to her. Yes. This was the slightly ditzy healer that had a crush on the same person that Karin was trying to find.

"You had a crush on a friend of yours in high school, but he died."

"Oh!! W-well!! It wasn't really a crush s-so much as… I-I mean… hehe…" Inoue began, blushing furiously.

"Yeah, I was in love with him. I thought that I had moved on, but when I felt his spiritual pressure, I came here as fast as I could. I knew that I couldn't miss the opportunity to see him, even if only once more. There are so many things I never said to him. You know, it's funny, I remember like it was yesterday asking another boy in my class out. And he told me exactly what I needed to hear, but perhaps not quite in the way I would have wanted it said to me."

*Flashback*

"Ishida-kun, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go see a movie th-this Saturday."

"Orihime…"

"I… I really like you, and I think we could…"

"Why are you doing this to yourself, Orihime?" Uryu asked, somewhat coldly, his blue eyes narrowing accusatorily.

"W-what do you mean?"

"You're making a fool of yourself. You and I both know that you don't really like me, so it begs the question why you're trying to pretend that you do when it's so obviously a lie."

"I-Ishida-kun…"

"And I think I know why…" Uryu continued on as though Orihime hadn't interrupted him. He was as blunt and even brutal as his father.

"You're still upset over Kurosaki's disappearance, and you feel a desperate need to prove to yourself that you're over it, so you asked someone that you felt comfortable with on a farce of a date so that when the day was done and you and he separated ways, you could tell yourself what a good time you had and that congratulate yourself on finally having gotten over Ichigo. I won't be as presumptuous as to say that you should have gotten over him by now, but it's your problem and you need to solve it on your own. Failing that, talk to a shrink or a grief counselor and don't force your friends into such a charade. I don't think any less of you for this, but some would be offended by your lack of sincerity on such a serious subject," he said icily, staring hard at her. Then his expression went back to its usual neutral position and he said calmly and levelly, "see you in class. Enjoy your lunch, Orihime."

*End Flashback*

"I couldn't go back to class for the rest of the day, but I thought about what he said that night, and he was right. I was using him to try to escape my own problems. I was a little bit shaken by your questions to me and Tatsuki-chan about what was missing in your life. I'm sorry that I had to lie to you. It was a stipulation of not having our own memories erased. Mr. Urahara must have erased yours and your sister's and your father's, but he didn't erase Chad's, Uryu's, mine, Keigo's, Mizuiro's, or Tatsuki-chan's on the one condition that we tell nobody about Kurosaki-kun. But I suppose since you have already seen him fighting up there, there isn't any hiding it anymore. Ichigo Kurosaki is your older brother, and he was the first ever human Shinigami. That changed, though, after the winter war when he defeated Aizen, a man who had betrayed the Soul Society, or the organization to which Ichigo now belongs. Anyway, Ichigo was made a captain, and as a captain, he was ordered to report to the Seireitei permanently, and he's been there for almost a year, now. From what I can see, the captaincy ceremony went well, and he has been sent on a mission to the human world. I can only guess that there are a few stray Arrancars left from when Aizen was killed."

"W-was it Ichigo niisan who killed him?"

"Yes. He was amazing. I watched the battle. It went on for hours, and Ichigo was about to lose when he managed a new feat that nobody had ever managed before. He actually merged with the hollow inside him and became more powerful. That gave him the power to kill Aizen."

"You know, Inoue… We really aren't supposed to divulge such sensitive information to humans, especially ones that have no involvement whatsoever…"

"Kurosaki-kun!!" Orihime cried, throwing her arms around Ichigo, embracing him tightly, and with such abandon that their heads cracked together and Ichigo was thrown back momentarily. Stars swam in front of Ichigo's eyes until he managed to shake it off and then he pulled out of Orihime's grasp and looked at Karin.

"Karin…" he said softly, tenderly. He had missed her. He had missed his entire family and all of his friends, and he had occasionally wondered if they too had missed him.

"Nii-san!!" Karin cried, jumping over Orihime, despite her hurt leg and hugging Ichigo even tighter than Orihime had. Ichigo smiled and picked her up, hugging her back.

"You've gotten taller, Karin… You're looking at me like I'm a stranger. What's up?"

"Well, from what Inoue-san has told me, Urahara erased our memories of you after you left, so I didn't even know that I had a brother until now, though I knew something was missing from my life. What else have I missed!?"

"Not much. I can't believe Urahara did that. I'll need to have a little talk with him. Who else did he mind wipe?"

"Um, everyone but Chad, Uryu, Tatsuki-chan, Mizuiro, Keigo, and I, and of course your father."

"Why wouldn't he mind wipe my old man?"

"You didn't know?" Orihime asked, surprised at this question and Ichigo's lack of knowledge. "Kurosaki Isshin was a captain of Soul Society once. That was a long time ago, though, of course." Suddenly, Orihime looked at the dumbfounded look on Karin's face and looked at her with a sheepish grin.

"What? Don't you believe me?"

"Do I believe that there's an entire secret world running parallel to our own that's full of ghosts with superpowers, and that my father, old goatface, the biggest dumbass in the history of forever was once a high ranking official in that world? Lady, after tonight, I'm willing to believe just about anything."

"I see. That's refreshing to know. But you must have a great deal of spirit energy as well, if you're able to see Shinigami and Hollows."

Karin looked at Orihime blankly and then stood up slowly, shakily, hardly able to support her own weight, given how much shock her body had been under with the massive spiritual pressure of that Arrancar that seemed as though it was at least twice as powerful as Aizen. Ichigo could never have beaten it under normal circumstances, but at the last minute, he managed to get it in a good position and shot off a Gran Rey Cero from the tip of his blade along with a super powered Getsuga Tensho, and he managed to injure the Arrancar enough to force it back to Hueco Mundo. It had come alone that night, fortunately for Ichigo and for everyone else, who wouldn't have stood a chance, otherwise.

Walking over to Toshiro, who was sitting on the ground, resting, still breathing rather heavily, Karin knelt down to look at him, staring him in the eyes, narrowing them as though she was trying to remember, even though she wasn't sure where she was supposed to remember him from.

"What? It's rude to stare, Kurosaki…" Toshiro said irately, pushing Karin aside lightly and standing up, using the wall for support.

"Careful… You've just been healed. Don't overdo it."

"You were just healed as well!" Toshiro shot back, looking at her, a vein throbbing in his temple.

"Yeah, but I wasn't nearly cut to ribbons…"

Turning red, Toshiro looked at her venomously, his eyebrow twitching dangerously, furiously. This girl, this human, who by the way had called him a grade schooler, seemed to have an answer for everything, and what was worse was that she was kind of cute for a human.

"Like I said before, you're meddling in affairs that are beyond your comprehension! Run home to your mommy like a good little girl and ask her to tell you a bedtime story!"

Karin looked at him, eyes wide with rage at his condescension. Could this guy be any ruder!? First of all, he didn't look any older than she was, and second, he was scrawny even for someone his own age. Suddenly, Karin lost control of her temper and punched Toshiro in the face, tackling him and continuing to pummel him.

"HOW DARE YOU TALK TO ME THAT WAY, YOU SNOT NOSED LITTLE BRAT!?" she shrieked, causing the passersby to look up at her as though she was insane for beating up on the sidewalk. After a moment of this, Toshiro flipped backwards and threw Karin off of him, causing her to land on the street with a thud. He went over to her and glared down at her with something of an arrogant smirk.

"Next time, maybe you'll _think_ before you attack someone you know nothing about, _you snot nosed little brat_! Now go home. I'm sure your parents are worried about you."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Sorry I hit you. It was good to meet you again, Captain Hitsugaya."

"You know, not everyone calls me 'captain'," Toshiro said, trying to be friendly, though it was taking some effort.

"Whatever, _Captain_…" Karin returned dully, walking away without looking back. She didn't really feel like arguing with Toshiro, but then she turned around out of curiosity and spoke to him.

"Hey, Captain Crunch, where are you gonna stay tonight? You couldn't possibly have any money, could you? Do you even use the same currency?"

"First of all, my name is Toshiro Hitsugaya, not Captain Crunch! And second of all, I don't need your pity! I'll probably find an abandoned building to sleep in. Nobody will bother me there."

"You dumbass! It isn't pity! It's concern, and you can stay with us while you're here. As long as Nii-chan is alright with that," she said, looking at Ichigo, who had walked up behind them and was listening.

"I don't mind. I wasn't even gonna come home, anyhow. Yuzu wouldn't know who I am, and it'd look weird if you suddenly brought two guys home. Captain Hitsugaya can have my old room. The bed is still there, right?"

"Yeah. It's the guest room, now. But where will you go?"

"I'll probably go to Urahara's place. I doubt he'll mind."

"But Nii-chan!! I wanted to be able to spend time with you again!" Karin said loudly, protesting Ichigo's lack of willingness to stay at the clinic.

"I'm just nervous that if I go back, I won't want to leave again. Despite what you may think, I didn't want to leave you guys. I liked my human life. But Soul Society needed me after the war."

"But it isn't fair! I just found out that I have a brother, and now you're leaving agai…"

"Kurosaki!!" Toshiro interrupted. Karin looked at him as if to tell him to mind his own business. "Don't force Captain Kurosaki to do something that he doesn't want to do! It already hurt him enough to leave you behind. When he first got to Soul Society, he…"

"Captain Hitsugaya! She doesn't need to know. I'll come over for the night. But I have to leave in the morning. I'm sure that I'll find somewhere to stay."

"Kurosaki… Are you sure about this?"

"Yes. I've already been a bad enough brother by leaving them. I won't ignore them when I come back."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four contains graphic scenes of rape and violence. If you do not like such things… you should have picked a different fanfiction to begin with.

Chapter Four

"Oh, Senna-chan!!" Gin called merrily. Senna was a fairly new addition to the Espada, and Gin's second in command. Many of the other Espada often wondered why he hadn't chosen a different Arrancar for the job. Even though Senna was easily twice as powerful as any of the others, she wasn't very strong willed, and one could even go as far as to say that she was kind of shy. Her transformation into a hollow after she disappeared from the world of the living had been rather traumatic for her, and though she had strangely enough instantly become a Vastorode of the most powerful caliber, she hated having to use her powers, preferring to read and spend her time alone. But, for some reason, Gin had chosen her for his second in command… Well, he called her his second in command, but in reality, she was little more than a personal assistant. She had no real power in the organization, although the other Arrancar would probably be well disposed to listen to her were she to issue a command, knowing how incredibly powerful she was.

"Y-yes, Lord Ichimaru?" She asked quietly, inching out slowly from behind the wall, never looking Gin in the eyes, always preferring to stare off into space, or at the floor. She knelt before him and bowed, offering her assistance.

"How long've ya' been my assistant, Senna-chan?" he asked, scratching his head and looking down at her with a wide grin. She thought about that for a moment. The time that she spent as his assistant all seemed to blur together. It wasn't a very stimulating job, not that she minded working for him. He was just a little bit scary.

"Um, perhaps 5 months, by now, sir?" she said softly and politely, still not looking at him. Gin bent down and cupped her chin gently in his fingers and pulled her face up, forcing her to look at him.

"Exactly. And ya' still haven't looked me in the eye even once. Am I really that scary, or do ya' just not like me?"

"N-no sir!" she said fervently, squeezing her eyes shut, putting her hands on her lap and bowing in apology. "I never meant t-to offend you, p-please forgive me!"

"Not at all!" Gin said, laughing lightly. "I was jus' curious. I think I know what it is now, though," he said, opening his eyes slightly, showing his blood red irises.

"Y-you do, sir?" She was suddenly morbidly afraid that he had found out that she had snuck off to the human world a few times in the past three weeks to watch Ichigo. She knew that she could never talk to him, but she wanted to at least see him.

"Yeah, you're still thinkin' 'bout that Kurosaki kid. I know that ya' left Hueco Mundo alone a few times in the past month. Bin sneakin' around stalkin' Kurosaki?"

"I-I'm so sorry, Lord Ichimaru!! I swear, I'll never leave without your permission again!!" she cried, bowing profusely again.

"Don' worry 'bout it, don' worry 'bout it." He said patiently, holding his hands out for her to stop. She looked at his hand and he took her much smaller hand and pulled her into a standing position. She looked up at him, staring into his eyes voluntarily for the first time, and then he said, "Lemme put 'yer mind at ease. Ya don' need ta' worry 'bout Kurosaki's fate. Ya don' even need ta think 'bout Kurosaki at all. Ya know why?" he asked, opening his eyes and smiling at her, tilting his head to the left and pulling her in a bit closer to him so that he could whisper in her ear.

"Because Kurosaki doesn't give a shit 'bout a hollow slut like you. He'd kill ya as soon as look at ya."

Senna looked at Gin, her eyes wide with hurt and lack of understanding. She couldn't understand why he was saying such horrible things to her. Sure he had always been a little bit scary, but never outright mean.

"W-why would you say something l-like that? I-Ichigo-kun l-loved me when we were together in the human world!" she said loudly, hoping that saying it would make it true.

"Loved ya'!? Why the hell would he love _you_!? He's already deeply in love with that Rukia Kuchiki. Someone like you couldn't _possibly_ compete wit' Miss Kuchiki. I understand. Ya' don' wanna believe that Kurosaki could love another woman. But I'm gonna show ya' how worthless ya' really are, Senna-chan…" he said coldly, shoving her hard against the wall and kissing her roughly, bruising her lips as he did so. Forcing his tongue into her mouth, he lashed out at the corners of it, exploring every centimeter of it. Senna pushed hard and finally got him off of her.

"Lord Ichimaru! P-please! I-I understand, I-I'll stop…" she said quietly, her entire body shaking violently. Gin smirked ruthlessly and pushed her hands up above her head with one of his own hands and continued to ravage her mouth with his tongue. After a few minutes, he paused, allowing Senna to cough and grab a short breath before he spoke.

"I don' think ya do understand, ya little bitch! But ya will. Once I'm through wit' ya' there ain't gonna be no way y'all could _possibly_ misunderstand!" he hissed, slamming his body hard against hers, causing her to gasp in pain. She struggled as hard as she could under his iron grip, but found that his hand was far too strong to slip out of. She was an amazing escape artist, and could slide out of just about anything. But Gin's grip was an exception. She could feel his grip getting tighter and tighter, cracking her bones as he did so. She moaned in pain as he started to lay loveless kisses down her neck and shoulders, nipping her, leaving rude welts on her body. She squealed in embarrassment, her entire face beet red from shame. She felt so worthless at the moment. Words couldn't even describe how humiliated she was.

"L-Lord Ichimaru… C-could we at least d-do this in a different l-location? P-please!" she begged, her amber eyes wide with terror and filled with tears that started to spill over and run down her cheeks.

"I don' think so… We can do this right here. That way, everyone can come an' see jus' what a slut ya' really are!"

"N-no!! P-please Lord Ichimaru!! D-don't do this!!" she cried. Her words were falling on deaf ears, though, because then, Gin put his hand up her shirt and began to feel her breasts, causing her to squirm under his touch. Upon seeing this, he immediately ripped her shirt off, exposing her upper body. Though her breasts weren't huge, they also weren't small. The perfect size in Gin's opinion. Senna was indeed a beautiful girl. Getting a chance to fuck her like this was a great stroke of luck. He lowered his mouth to her right breast and put his lips around her nipple, running his tongue over it and playing with it. After a moment of doing this, he laughed.

"Yer nipples're gettin' hard, Senna-chan. Yer mouth is sayin' no, but yer body is sayin' yes. I'm havin' a hard time believin' that ya' don' like this…" he said, smirking and chuckling to himself as he brought the hand that wasn't binding her hands down to her pants and pulling them down. She kicked feebly, but didn't offer much resistance anymore. She felt her breathing getting heavier as he started to play with her pussy, running his fingers along the outside, and just barely rubbing her clit. She groaned in a disgusting mixture of humiliation and pleasure. She could feel her body heating up inside, and she knew, to her great embarrassment, that his touch was turning her on. She couldn't believe that such a disgusting creature could do that to her, but strangely, he was able to do so, and soon, she started feeling lightheaded and was squirming uncontrollably in his grasp as she finally released all over his hand. Gin looked up at her with a triumphant grin.

"See, I knew ya couldn' resist me. Well, now, I'll show you why girls line up fer a chance ta have me do 'em…" he said, pulling off his coat and pulling down his pants and pushing his hardened cock into her. She groaned in abject pain at first, but then stopped. Did it… feel good? No. She didn't want this. She had wanted to lose her virginity to Ichigo. She was going to confess that she loved him, and then have sex with him for the first time in her life. But, now, that couldn't happen anymore. She was ruined, and she felt foul and dirty.

"Feels good, Senna-chan?" he asked. Senna couldn't help but tear up at this comment as he began to thrust in and out of her violently, causing her to scream out shrill cries of agony. At this sound, several Arrancar came to investigate. She turned around and silently mouthed to them, begging someone… anyone… to help her. She hated the feeling of being violated like this. But none of them came to help her. They all just shuffled off, too intimidated by Gin to object. Gin then nibbled on Senna's ear and whispered.

"See? Nobody else gives a shit about you either. They all came and left because they don't care. You have _no_ friends. You are surrounded on all sides by enemies and I am your only way out. Submit to me, and I will protect you from your enemies," he whispered, moaning as he came inside her and then dropped her on the floor, pulled his pants up and turned around in a show of mock respect, leaving her to lie there for a few minutes before she got her own clothes on and also walked out, silently sobbing. Almost immediately after she walked out, she passed by a smallish girl in black Shinigami robes and lieutenant's badge around her arm. Her black hair was pulled up in a pouch in the back and tied with a string, and her tremulous brown eyes looked like they were a cross between furious and terrified. She looked over at the sobbing Arrancar and stuck her tongue out at her, not realizing what had happened. As soon as she walked into the throne room, though, Gin turned around and looked at Momo with a look somewhere between disbelief and cruel amusement.

"So, what'd bring the ever-so-cute and loveable Hinamori Momo ta' my doorstep, so t'speak?" Gin asked jovially, not receiving the same smile from Momo.

"You manipulated Captain Aizen into betraying Soul Society! Everyone thinks he's a traitor and it's all your fault!!" she screamed furiously. Gin tilted his head to the left… then to the right… then he arched an eyebrow and stared at Momo as if to ask her if she was really as big a dumbshit as she was acting at the moment. Finally, he spoke, after what seemed like hours.

"Well… duh!!" he said with a cruel laugh. "O' course I manipulated Aizen. Did anyone really believe that that _dipshit_ could really control an army of ants, let alone an army of Arrancar! Do ya' wanna know how it _really_ happened, dear? Why dontcha sit on Uncle Gin's lap, and I'll tell you a nice lil' anecdote ta' calm yer frazzled nerves. Anyway, it started about 200 years ago, maybe, back when I first graduated from the Academy. That was when I joined the fifth squad, and I noticed what an ambitious man my lieutenant was. So, I worked my way up in the ranks. It was hard to hide the kind of power that I really possessed. Ya' know, the kind that mighta put me on par with an average captain at the time. But, nonetheless, I managed somehow, an' I killed the third seat of fifth squad, making it closer and closer to Aizen, who was a lieutenant at the time, an' he 'noticed' my power and 'recruited' me, although I was the one who planted the idea in his head by leaving out a certain document by a certain shinigami on Hollowfication. That piqued his interest, and he started experimenting and finally, he used me as an experimental subject, an' it worked. I started to develop my hollow powers and needless t'say, Aizen was very pleased with my progress, but he still believed that he was the superior shinigami. So, he continued wit' his little science projects an began experimenting wit' normal souls. Those didn't work, so he moved up ta Shinigami, and found out that only lieutenant level Shinigami or higher could be hollowfied without being destroyed, though, again, it was I who gave 'im the suggestion, by saying that 'e should try it on that brat Hiyori Sarugaki. Doubtless he knew that I hated her as much as she hated me. Anyway, 100 years passed, and then Rukia-chan went ta da Human world and lost 'er powers ta that Kurosaki brat. When I heard that Rukia-chan had disappeared, I knew that asshole Urahara hadda be involved. I figured that he musta' given Rukia-chan an untraceable body an' hidden the Hogyoku inside it. I told Aizen that I was sure that Urahara still had the Hogyoku, and that turned him onto the idea that it hadta be in Rukia-chan. So, he an' I killed the Central 46, an' ordered her ta' be brought backta Soul Society, an' executed by means of the Sokyoku. After that, things couldn'ta gone more perfectly. The ryoka broke in an' caused havoc in th' Seireitei, an' they didn' even stop to recognize that a captain had been murdered. Had they put more bodies on th' job, I have no doubt that they woulda figured out that the corpse was a fake sooner, and woulda figured out Aizen's scheme. But that was the beauty of it. It would, ta all appearances, have been Aizen who had been the petpetrator. They woulda checked the Central 46 out of suspicion, and found that the entire committee was dead, an they woulda' been sure tha' Aizen had murdered them all and manipulated all of the events that had led up to there. They woulda executed Aizen and released Rukia, after which I woulda been free to use the same method that Aizen used to extract the Hogyoku from her and then kill her with a Kidô powerful enough to vaporize her konpaku so that she didn't tell any stories later. After that, I woulda' quietly escaped Soul Society.

"Fortunately, Aizen wasn't executed, an' he continued ta' believe that he was in charge. He led all of the events up to the execution and the three o' us escaped Soul Society an' went upta Hueco Mundo, where I already had spies planted among Aizen's loyal subjects. So, everything that Aizen did, I knew about. That was why I was prepared when the war came early. I was fairly sure that Aizen would be killed. Even if Soul Society's forces were divided, the human world had incredible defenses. The Vizard, Kurosaki's old man, Urahara, Ryuken Ishida, and Yoruichi Shihoin. All of them woulda' tilted the war in their favor, an' one of em was bound t'kill Aizen. I was surprised, I admit, that it turned out ta be Kurosaki who did 'im in. He used powers like I had never seen before aside from my own, maybe, and he slew Aizen like a pig at the fuckin' slaughterhouse. Kurosaki was then taken from the human world, just as I had planned. Now the human world no longer has that defense. He is a captain of Soul Society, speaking of which, you should respect Kurosaki more than you do. He may look scary, but he's a good guy."

"What would you know about being a good guy, you pig!!??"

"Ah, touché. But, anywho, now that Aizen is dead, and everyone believes me to be dead as well, I've redoubled my Arrancar recruiting efforts and created a more powerful army than Aizen ever coulda'. Soon, I'll mount an attack against the Soul Society, and then Hollows will rule the Soul Society, and I will rule the hollows. Nice, ain't it?"

"No!! It's terrible!! You're a contemptible, arrogant, dangerous man, and I know now that I have to kill you!"

"Kill me!? That's funny, Momo-chan. Yer boyfriend, Hitsugaya saved you the las' time you attacked me, but he ain't here now, is he? Besides, you couldn't even beat my weakest Espada, who happens to be hiding behind the entrance to the throne room. Oh, Artemis, do me a favor and take care of this child for me? She's way out of her league and needs to be taught a lesson in manners. Can ya do somethin' without killin' 'er?"

"No promises, Lord Ichimaru…" came a cold and rough voice as a tall female in a white trench coat and a white tank-top underneath and a long white skirt walked over toward the throne, bowing to Aizen and then staring icily at Hinamori.

"I'll make sure not to desecrate your body too much. We wanna be able to send it home, right. Hey, Lord Ichimaru! D'you have a cigarette!?"

"Always, dear…" Gin said, fishing out a box and holding it out for her. She took a stick out and lit it with a flame that came out of her fingers when she snapped. She then took a puff and looked at Hinamori with an insane grin. Almost quicker than Hinamori could even blink, Artemis was upon her, and she kneed Hinamori in the stomach, sending her flying against the far wall over fifty feet away, smashing several objects that were in the way. Hinamori groaned and stood up, taking out her Zanpakuto.

"S-Snap! Tobi…" But she didn't even get a chance to release it, because Artemis had used a super fast sonido to advance at her, kick her in the face, breaking her jaw, and knocking out several teeth and causing a fountain of blood to spurt out of her mouth and nose. Hinamori looked furiously at Artemis and tried to do a Kido, but the spell, needing the verbal component, backfired, and sent her into the wall again, at which point, Artemis followed, channeled Kido power into her arms and started punching Momo relentlessly, crushing her chest in, causing it to compress her heart and lungs.

When Artemis finally let up, she pulled Momo up from the floor and looked at her cruelly, removed the cigarette from her mouth and held it up to Hinamori's eye, causing the young Shinigami to shriek in agony, even through her broken jaw. Immediately, Artemis heated up her arm with Kido, and held her hand to Hinamori's bare flesh, causing her chest and stomach to blacken and burn, exuding the horrible stench of burning flesh. As Hinamori screamed in pain, Artemis laughed with vicious and maniacal abandon before stopping and looking Momo in her one good eye.

"Now, I'm gonna ask you a question, and you're going to answer to the best of your ability. If you smart off, or do anything else to piss me off, I'll use my lighter to put out your other eye. Got it, bitch!? Now, did you come here alone, or are there others?"

"Ah waszh aone!" Hinamori said, feeling like she was speaking pretty well for having her jaw shattered and half her teeth knocked out or broken.

"Good. How did you get past the other Arrancar?"

"A ungdergroun passaghe. I' leadsh righ' to da trone room."

"Very good. Thank you. Goodbye."

"Make it quick. We don' need ta hurt her anymore'n we have, right?"

"Fine, fine…" Artemis said grudgingly, removing her sword from its sheath and running it through Hinamori's chest, killing her instantly.

After a moment, Gin spoke again, and grinned.

"Hey, ya wanna send th' body back ta' Soul Society?" he asked, grinning deviously and snickering like a child plotting a prank.

"Whatever. To whom would we send it?"

"Why, who else? Cap'n Hitsugaya Toshiro. He's an old friend of mine, and I was actually rather fond o' him. He'd wanna get his girlfriend's body back. Especially cuz it's his birthday soon."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Toshiro was interrupted by a loud knock on his front door. He had been busy filling out paperwork from the mission that he and Kurosaki had just gone on, so he was quite busy, and didn't have much time. What free time he did have, he devoted to looking for Momo, who had mysteriously disappeared during the time that he was in the Human world, and not even the Commander General knew where she was. For the time being, though, she was being treated as if she had defected and any who found her were ordered to arrest her on sight. It had only been through Toshiro's prodding that the order was not "arrest or kill on sight".

When he heard the knock, he groaned and stood up, shaking his hair out, as he had not yet showered that day. He silently padded over to the front door and opened it to see a delivery man with a huge box that was wrapped a bit too tightly with duct tape and it had a tag on it that said "for Lil' Shiro," and it had hearts adorning it. Instantly, he assumed that it was from Hinamori, and he groaned again, signed for the package and dragged it inside. When he got it to his office, he set it down in the corner and started to go back to work. But then, he felt a twinge of curiosity. What would Hinamori possibly want to send him? It was his birthday, but it was unlikely that she would send him anything so big. So, he took out a razor blade and cut open the package, pulling up the flaps and removing the Styrofoam from the package. He then looked upon the gift and saw a card that said "Happy Birthday Lil' Shiro! Sincerely, Gin Ichimaru. P.S I hope you like the color!" and underneath it was Hinamori's bruised, beaten, broken and bloody body, with her sword still clutched tightly in her hands.

Toshiro felt his usual reserve wavering for a moment, but he couldn't find his voice. It was lost deep in his viscera, and he mouthed a few times, choking as if he was about to throw up, but nothing came. He finally stopped and felt tears welling up in his greenish blue eyes. Unable to speak, he gaped for a moment before… "!!!!!!!" Toshiro screamed in abject horror, unable to stand the sight of his friend's dead body, but unable to tear his eyes off her. He didn't even hear Rangiku running in and standing behind him, trying to drag him away from the box. He resisted as hard as he could, and for all his fighting, he was still screaming through every second of it. He felt as if he had gone mad from the sheer terror of seeing Hinamori like this.

"Captain!! Captain!! Calm down, calm down." Rangiku said, forcing him to look away by pulling him into a tight embrace. Even after Toshiro stopped screaming, he was breathing heavily, hardly able to speak, let alone form intelligible speech. Rangiku held him closely, like she might hold a scared child. After all, no matter how mature Toshiro was, he was a child, a child of 120.

"R-Rangiku?" he asked, his eyes still shimmering with tears. He pulled herself out of her grasp and looked at her. Now that he had that pleading look on his face, he looked more like a child than ever. Wait, he had _never_ called her Rangiku. He had always referred to her by her surname, Matsumoto. He had to really be distracted to be so informal.

"Yes, captain?"

"C-could I… be alone for a few minutes?" he asked quietly. Unlike his usual commanding tone, this was a request. She could tell that she had the option to listen to or ignore his request as she saw necessary. Of course, she respected her captain enough to give him privacy when he needed it, so disobeying hadn't even crossed her mind for more than the split second that it took her to register the request.

"S-sure, captain. Just… just call if you need me…" she said, smiling gently and standing up to leave. As she left, Toshiro lost his cool finally and broke down sobbing. From behind the wall, Rangiku listened for a minute. Even in such a terribly traumatic moment, her captain had been trying to keep his reserve around his subordinates. She sometimes wondered if it was healthy for him to be so mature, and now that he thought he was alone, he was kneeling over Hinamori, clutching her body to his chest and sobbing miserably. Blood was getting all over his white captain's haori, but he didn't care. He needed to feel her close to him, even if she couldn't console him, even if the sight of her broken corpse made him sick to his stomach. Gin was a sick man. Sicker than Aizen could ever be in a million years. Aizen had been a horrible person, and a dangerous man, but Gin was insane, and seemed to take sadistic glee in causing others distress. He beat Hinamori to death and then sent him her body with a note that said he hoped Toshiro "liked the color". Toshiro wondered vaguely if that was Gin's idea of a joke.

"Captain?"

"M-Matsumoto!! Y-you're still here!!?? W-what do you want!?"

"Should I go to the human world and find the human healer girl?"

"No. We would not be doing Hinamori a favor by reviving her. She went into Hueco Mundo without orders and alone and attempted to take on a vastly superior foe. Even if she was brought back to life, she would not only be disgraced, she would be arrested and punished for insubordination. Please, Matsumoto. I'm giving you the rest of the day off. Spend it as you will, and report here tomorrow at the usual time, ready to work," he said, having resumed his usual emotionless tone. She couldn't figure out whether he was angry at her, or if he was just trying to compensate for what she had seen a few moments ago.

"Oh, and Matsumoto?"

"Y-yes, captain?"

"Don't tell anyone about our conversation. I know how loose your tongue becomes when you drink…" he said with a definite air of coldness about him, his gaze narrowing and piercing her like an ice cold dagger. She gasped and nodded.

"I-I would never…"

"Don't lie Matsumoto. You would tell anyone anything if you were drunk enough. This time it's a direct order, though, to keep your damn mouth shut…!" he said lines of silent fury etched into his features. She looked at him, her normally calm blue eyes tinged with fear. She knew that her captain was upset, but he had never shown any indication that he could be so mean. She wondered if Toshiro really thought so little of her, or if it was just his shock speaking still. Did he really have so little faith in her.

"I understand, captain…" she said, knowing that she couldn't convince him at the moment that she was telling the truth. There were some things that she was more likely to spill her guts about when she was drunk, but things like this, that were this personal, she would never betray him like that. So, without saying anything else, she silently walked out of the room and resolved to do what she could to make the captain feel better when he had calmed down a bit.

Out at her usual bar, Rangiku sighed, ordering another sake. She hadn't even had her third drink yet, and yet… she wasn't that interested in drinking herself stupid that night, which was, needless to say, unusual. Kira was sitting next to her, and he looked over, concerned about his Academy friend. Although their paths had diverged somewhat along the way, both had found their friendship again after they were both betrayed by Gin. Rangiku had loved Gin. Despite his mysterious and somewhat unbearable personality, she could never help but be drawn to his air of mystique. Perhaps it was that that fooled her into thinking that underneath that fake smile was a decent person. Now, she knew that Gin didn't have a decent bone in his body. But if that was the case, why hadn't he just left her to die when they were children. No. He had given her food and shelter, and they had become something similar to friends. There was no doubt that Gin had a great charisma about him that drew some people to him, while scaring or unsettling other people. Even back when Gin was a captain, not everyone in Soul Society trusted him. People always asked Rangiku how she could stand being around him when he was such a weird guy. And Rangiku wasn't sure if she had an answer. There was something about him that made her drawn to him. Maybe she was really as pathetic as she felt. The way that she trusted Gin up until the very last moment… Maybe she had been in denial. But Kira was in a worse situation. Gin's defection didn't have any repercussions for her.

Kira had obeyed Gin's commands, believing him to be a trustworthy captain. He had attacked Rangiku. He had led Hinamori into a trap and in his own eyes, gotten her run through by Aizen. He raised his sword against Hinamori. And the mere fact that he had served under Gin for so many years while underneath, Gin was a traitor and a snake of the worst kind, was an embarrassment to him personally, and to his entire squad. After Gin left, Kira tried to pick up the slack, but he never felt like he was good enough to take over for Gin. Gin had been a strong captain, even if he had been a bad person. Kira looked at Rangiku.

"What's wrong, Matsumoto? You've barely touched your third glass of sake. You've usually gone through six or seven glasses by now."

"I-it's nothing…" Rangiku said quietly, trying to hide her tears and her quivering shoulders. She couldn't hide from Kira, though. He had known her for a long time, and he knew her to be extremely good hearted, albeit loud and talkative, and quick to bust out the alcohol.

"It isn't nothing… Come on. Do you still not trust me after what happened?"

"Kira… Don't make this about you. It isn't about you. I can't talk about it."

"What do you mean you can't talk about it? You've never been one to clam up like this before."

"I mean that it's none of your damn business!!" she yelled, draining her cup of sake and loudly ordered another. By this time, she was beginning to get a little bit tipsy. The barkeep filled her cup with sake and she drained it in one gulp, and next time, instead of ordering the cup, she ordered a bottle, and she grabbed it from the man, sloshing some of it on her robes and gulping it down like no tomorrow. Even though she was rather bibulous by nature, she was really taking it to a new extreme. It was as though she was taking a drinking dare from someone, trying to get piss drunk as fast as she could. And it was working.

Rangiku ordered rather angrily another bottle, and though rather hesitant, the barkeep gave it to her. Kira stopped him, though, and took the bottle himself and held it out of her reach. Looking venomously at Kira, she grabbed for the bottle, but found that she was too clumsy to get it from him.

"Not a chance, Matsumoto. Not until you tell me what's wrong."

Suddenly, Kira found himself seeing white stars flying in his field of vision, and him kneeling on the ground, holding his crotch, having just been kicked in the testicles by Rangiku, who, in a drunken rage, was several times stronger than she was normally. She grabbed the bottle with both hands, and popped it open, pouring the clear, silvery liquid down her throat and belching loudly, throwing the empty bottle at the wall and instead hitting an unseated Shinigami in the head. She groaned and then looked coldly at Kira before walking out, stumbling along the way out and into the street.

Ichigo sighed. Sometimes he hated living in Soul Society. He hated everyone in the Soul Society. He hated Byakuya. He hated Toshiro. He even hated Rukia, his best friend… But was she more than his best friend? He had always felt strange around her, like there was a fluttering in his gut that just wouldn't go away. He sometimes wondered how Renji felt about her… Moreover, how did she feel about Renji? They had been friends for over a hundred years. Maybe, Ichigo thought to himself, he should just give up on thinking about Rukia and continue on with his life. Great Kami knew that he had enough to worry about without being in love. Sometimes, he wished that he never met Rukia. Had he never met Rukia, he would have at that moment, been an average seventeen year old living an average life. He would be close to graduating from high school, and soon, he would be going on to college. He would probably fall in love with some woman and marry her, have a family and children of his own, and he wouldn't have had to worry about the fate of the world. He could have just left it up to the Shinigami and gone on with his own life. That wasn't what happened, though. And besides, Rukia didn't love him. She said it herself. He scared her. He had never resented her before for giving him Shinigami powers. But more recently, he felt like just maybe he was a little bit angry at her. She had changed his entire life, and sometimes he wondered if his life had really been changed for the better. While it was true that now, he could protect the ones that he cared about, he also had more responsibility than any other person his age… except maybe Uryu, whose responsibility was self imposed.

Somehow, it didn't make sense, though. She had never been afraid of him in the past. It was true that Aizen had scared her horribly when she found out what he was really up to, and so did Gin. But never Ichigo. Ichigo had always thought that no matter how powerful he got, he would always be the same person. That he would always be the same to Rukia. She was the only person whose opinion he had ever cared about, and now, she didn't even want to be around him. He wondered sometimes if maybe he had done something to scare her like that.

Whatever he had done, though, he was soon snapped out of his thoughts by a knock at the door. He looked over at his clock. It was 2330h. It was pretty late for someone to be visiting him. He sighed. He couldn't turn the person away. Whoever it was, if they were visiting him that late, they must have had something important to say. He silently nodded to himself and padded toward the door, passing his kitchen along the way and looking into it. It was a terrible mess. His room in the human world had always been very neat and tidy, but ever since he had gotten to Soul Society, he had lost interest in cleaning up after himself. Now, he did it perhaps once a month, if that. He approached the door and opened it, immediately stumbling back upon seeing who was standing there. It was Rukia. She was soaked from the cold rain that was falling outside, and shivering violently. She looked rather pale, and her eyes had dark bags under them, like she hadn't slept in a few days.

"Rukia? C-come in. What's going on? Doesn't Captain Kuchiki's mansion have umbrellas in it?" he asked, trying to get Rukia to smile. It had the opposite effect, unfortunately. She seemed to become very annoyed at the joke.

"Of course, Nii-sama has umbrellas!!" Then, upon seeing the shocked look on Ichigo's face, she bowed in apology. "Forgive me, Captain Kurosaki. I meant to say that his umbrellas are at the front door. Nii-sama would never have let me come out this late in the rain."

"I-I see. Well, you should come in before you catch a cold."

Rukia bowed politely and followed Ichigo inside and into his office. He had been filling out paperwork for a while, and he was glad of a chance to take a break from it.

"I have some spare clothes in my room upstairs. They may be a little bit large, but feel free to change into them," Ichigo said, with what he hoped was a friendly smile. He had never been very good at smiling. It just wasn't something that came naturally to him. But around Rukia, he felt like maybe he could smile… if only a little bit. Rukia stared at him for a moment, her brilliant blue eyes flooding with tears. Ichigo watched in shock as her entire body trembled. She looked like someone who just had her heart ripped out, rather than someone who had been invited inside and offered a change of clothes. Ichigo had thought that he was being nice, but maybe he had accidentally said something to hurt Rukia's feelings.

"I-I'm sorry, Rukia! I-I didn't mean t-to hurt your feelings. I d-don't even know what I said…" Ichigo stammered, trying a placating smile. Hardly had he finished, though, when Rukia suddenly hugged him as tightly as she could and began sobbing into his shoulder. She was acting really weird. Had she had a fight with someone? Maybe it wasn't him at all that had upset her.

"Rukia? A-are you alright?" Dumb question. Of course she wasn't alright. She was standing there, holding onto him like her life depended on it, and crying like no tomorrow.

"I-Ichigo… *choke*… H-how can you still w-want t-t-to be my friend after th-the way… *sob*… I treated you!?" she managed to say, her chest heaving in and out as she tried to steady her breathing and stop crying. She felt like such a fool in front of Ichigo, crying like that.

"Rukia… Rukia. Calm down. I can't imagine not wanting to be friends with you. I can't even imagine my life without you, anymore…" Ichigo said quietly, returning Rukia's hug and walking with her into his living room, sitting down on the couch and pulling her down next to him. He wasn't entirely sure of what he was doing, but he was pretty sure that he couldn't make things any worse.

"Rukia, did you really mean what you said when you told me you were afraid of me?" Ichigo asked, looking at Rukia more seriously than he had in years.

"Ichigo…" Rukia protested. "I don't think…"

"I have to know."

"Ichigo! Please don't make me…"

"Rukia! I have to know. I haven't been able to sleep at night. Training is a nightmare for me because I can't concentrate. I barely won that battle against the Arrancar. If I really upset you that much, I need to know. Call it selfishness. But not knowing has been driving me insane!"

"Yes, Ichigo! I did mean what I said. I was a little bit scared. But not for the reasons that you think. When I found out about your inner hollow, I remember actually throwing up. I've never told you this before, but I was in love once with my lieutenant, Kaien Shiba. He was an amazing person, and… a lot like you, actually. He had a beautiful wife who was killed and devoured by a hollow. Naturally, he wanted to go after the hollow. So, he, Captain Ukitake and I went on a mission to kill the hollow. He went in first to fight the hollow alone. But when he touched the hollow's tentacles, his sword shattered. He fought for a while with Kido and hand to hand combat, but there was only so much that he could do. I could have saved him by joining the fight, but Captain Ukitake said that there were two kinds of fights. One kind of fight where you are fighting for life, and one where you are fighting for honor. Needless to say, he was fighting the latter. It was true that I could have saved his life by killing the hollow. But his honor would never have recovered. So, I watched as the hollow entered his body and took over his mind. The hollow proceeded to attack me, so I did the only thing that I could think of to do. I killed the hollow, which was still in Kaien's body at the time. And as he died in my arms, he thanked me. So that's why, when I heard that you had a hollow inside you, I was terrified that it was going to take you over and that you wouldn't be you anymore. Then the hollow merged with you, and you can use Shinigami and hollow powers all the time. You're more like a hollow than ever, Ichigo, and that scared me. But I'm not going to run from it anymore. I love you, Ichigo, and I don't want anything to come between us. I understand, though, if you don't feel the same way, now that you know the truth."

"Rukia. I told you, I never stopped loving you. And… I never will." Ichigo replied, holding Rukia close to him. Rukia sighed and hugged Ichigo back and kissed him gently on the lips. Ichigo returned the kiss, and they held it this time, passionately embracing and kissing each other. Finally, the two broke away and smiled. Rukia giggled nervously and Ichigo blushed.

"H-have you… ever kissed a girl before me, Ichigo?" Rukia asked shyly, looking away and blushing a gentle shade of pink.

"No. I've never been the kind of person that girls like," Ichigo said with a nervous grin, almost embarrassed.

"What about Inoue?" Rukia asked. Ichigo looked at her with an eyebrow raised. He wasn't quite sure what she was getting at.

"What about Inoue? I never kissed her, if that's what you're asking."

"No, you idiot! You mean you couldn't tell that she liked you!? Kami! You're even denser than I thought possible!"

"Sh-shut up! How was I supposed to know!? It's not like she ever told me!"

"She just as good as told you, though! You never noticed how flustered she got around you!?"

"She was flustered 24/7!" Ichigo said defensively, turning bright red. In truth, he couldn't believe, in retrospect, that he never noticed. Had he really been ignoring her like that all that time? How rude could he get?

"Yeah… I-I guess you're right. Anyone else I should know about, Rukia?" he asked jokingly. Rukia scowled at him and stuck her tongue out, shaking her head.

"Despite how utterly charming you are…" she said sarcastically. "No other girls liked you… At least I don't think so."

Ichigo sighed and hugged Rukia again, who didn't say anything, but hugged him back, just sitting there in his embrace. It felt good to know that Ichigo wasn't angry at her, and that he didn't think she was just trying to replace Kaien with him.

"Hey… I-Ichigo?" Rukia said quietly, leaning in toward him.

"Yeah?" Ichigo asked, losing his usual scowl and replacing it with a neutral, questioning look.

"Y-you never really told me anything about your mother. I know that I can't make you tell me about her, but I thought that maybe you would be able to trust me, now."

"Oh, you mean from back when I fought Grandfisher. Well, my mother was an amazing woman. My whole family, Yuzu, Karin, Dad, and I all revolved around her. She was the center of our universe, so to speak. She always had a smile on her face, and she never seemed to get sad, angry or upset. It was like she always put on a brave face for us. Back then, I remember that I was what Tatsuki would call a Momma's boy…" Ichigo said, laughing at the notion. Rukia laughed, too, a little bit at the thought of Ichigo clutching his mother's hand, holding onto her for dear life.

"Anyway. She always took me to martial arts when I was a child. And one day, after she picked me up and we were walking home, I noticed a girl standing by the edge of the sidewalk near the river. It had been raining for almost a week, so the river was about to flood, and it looked like she was about to jump. Back then, I wasn't able to tell the difference between ghosts and humans, and I thought that a human girl was about to jump in the river. Naturally, I ran out to save her, not realizing of course that it was a Hollow. I guess my mother realized it, because she ran after me and pushed me out of the way, and was killed by the hollow. Both of us fell over the edge of the railing, and fell onto the bank of the river. I was on top, so I was stunned, but not hurt, and when I opened my eyes, I saw my mom's body underneath me. Ever since then, I blamed myself for her death, until I spoke to my dad. That was the day that you and I went to the cemetery. He said that Masaki would never forgive him if he had blamed me, and that it hadn't been my fault that she died. He said that he was proud that she had died saving me. Since then, I guess I started to appreciate my mom even more."

"Wow. I never would have guessed. So that's why you were so intent on fighting Grandfisher alone. Ichigo…" she said, pulling Ichigo into another embrace, this time to comfort him. Since he had started to talk about his Masaki, he had visibly paled, and his shoulders had begun to quiver slightly, even though he was trying to hide it. Rukia smiled and shook her head. Even though Ichigo had gotten older, he had never lost the personality that he had the first time that she ever met him. He still tried to hide his pain. He still tried to bottle up his emotions so that nobody else could see them.

"Ichigo. Why didn't you ever tell me this before? Didn't you trust me?" Rukia asked. Ichigo looked hard at her for a moment and then nodded once.

"It isn't that I didn't trust you. I just… Didn't want you to feel sorry for me. I don't want your pity and I don't need to be patronized by people who think they're being helpful or nice."

"Ichigo! Is that what you think of me?" she asked, startled at the hard tone in his voice. Ichigo immediately softened his stare and shook his head.

"No… I-I just… Until you came along, I always hated my ability to see ghosts. I hated ghosts, mostly because of the day my mother died. So when I saw you, I was angry that the ghosts wouldn't even leave me alone when I was in my own damn room. I wondered if God had cursed me for something that I had done in a past life or something. For better or for worse, though, I'm still the odd man out here. Even if I am a Shinigami, I'm also a human. I have ties to the human world that aren't so easy to get rid of. My family and friends live in the human world. My whole life until two years ago was there. Did you expect me to just walk away from it like I didn't care? Now Karin is hurt that I left her, and Yuzu doesn't even know that I'm her brother!! I have no idea what my old man thinks! Everyone in the human world is going on without me! Inoue, Ishida, Chad, Tatsuki… They're all gonna graduate soon, and go off to different colleges or whatever, and then I won't even get to see them when I'm in the human world! Yuzu and Karin are twelve, now! They're in middle school, and soon enough, they'll be so busy with their schoolwork that they'll forget about me! In seven or eight decades, they'll all be growing old and dying, while I'm still in my goddamn prime. Then I won't have any friends in the human world! What should I do, go to Yuzu and Karin's children and grandchildren and tell them that I'm their damn uncle!? They'll look at me like I'm nuts and call the police!"

"I-Ichigo… D-do you really hate me that much for bringing you into our world? You never had to accept my powers! You didn't have to come after me and fight Byakuya and Renji in the human world! You didn't have to gain your powers back and rescue me from Soul Society. If you had just left it there, you would be a normal teenager! You would be going onto college, and I wouldn't begrudge you one bit! You didn't have to go into Hueco Mundo and rescue Orihime! And you didn't have to accept the captaincy! You could have said no, and remained in the human world as a substitute Shinigami!"

"No I couldn't!! I couldn't have done any of that!!" I had to accept your powers! I had to come after you! I had to get my powers back and rescue you from Soul Society!! I had to do all of that!! And do you know why!? It's because I owed you!! You gave up your power for me and for my family! You taught me how to be a Shinigami and when you knew that you were about to be arrested, you ran away so that I wouldn't get hurt! You were about to be executed for something that wasn't your fault! The day you gave me your powers was the day that I realized that I finally had the power to protect the people that were important to me!! YOU, Rukia!! YOU! You're who's most important to me!! I never would have forgiven myself if I had let you die, because even back then, I was in love with you. I knew it was probably stupid to fall in love with someone from such a different world, but I couldn't help it. You're the most amazing person I've ever met, and I can't imagine my life without you anymore! What the hell would I do in the human world if I did refuse the captaincy? Go back to being a disaffected youth. Go to college, and get a stupid degree in a stupid subject, so I could get a stupid job at a stupid corporation for a stupid asshole with a bad wig and a temper that would make Grimmjow look like a docile little kitty cat!? I couldn't stand a life like that! Yeah, it would be predictable. It would be safe. It would be normal, but goddamn, would it be boring!! Being a Shinigami is what I was destined to do. And whether I miss my old life, I could never go back to it, knowing what I know."

"Ichigo. I-I'm sorry… I shouldn't have doubted you," Rukia said shamefacedly. Ichigo shook his head and hugged Rukia, pulling her in close to him and rubbing in small circles on her back. She smiled with a sigh of relief and returned the embrace, holding him, never wanting to let go.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"So, apparently, Lil' Shiro didn' like my gift as much as I thought that he would. I'm slightly surprised. Aren't you, Senna-chan?" Gin asked coolly, losing his façade of a smile for a moment, but then going back to grinning like a fox, like he always did, that smile that struck fear into the souls of all who saw it. Gin was creepy, and he was insane. There was no other way to say it. Senna merely bowed meekly and nodded her assent. "Yes, Lord Ichimaru…" she muttered, hardly able to form complete sentences in his presence. Gin looked at her and grinned even more widely than he had been before. It was time to have some fun tormenting her. He wouldn't actually hurt her, well… maybe a little bit of emotional scarring.

"Ya' know? I feel jus' a bit lonely t'day…" he said loudly, making sure that Senna could hear him and understand what he was implying. Then he continued. "And MAN am I bored! Haven't bin so bored since righ' after I first took over fer Aizen…" Gin drawled, using Shunpo to step behind Senna and use his forefinger and his middle finger to slowly poke up her back and onto her shoulder. He then flashed around her and took her by the shoulders, bending down and staring deep into her golden/amber eyes, grinning and leaning in ever closer. When he was right next to her ear, he whispered in it.

"D'ya have any ideas fer how I could abate my boredom, dear?" he asked with a smirk that was almost audible in Senna's ears. She shook her head wildly, pulling away from Gin so hard that she stumbled over her feet and fell on her butt.

"I'm sorry, Senna-chan. I didn' quite hear ya'. Yer gonna hafta speak up."

"N-no, Ichigo-sama… Ichimaru-sama!" she cried, knowing full well what she had just done. She had probably just made the biggest mistake of her afterlife. Suddenly, Gin's face lost his usual facetious grin and turned ice cold. His eyes opened, showing blood red irises, and a blast of icy spiritual pressure emanated from Gin, causing Senna to gasp in agony as the wind from it rushed over her, nearly making her lose her tenuous balance.

Slowly, Gin began to advance on her, drawing Shinsô in a flash and releasing it, sending it toward her. She stopped the extending blade with her own sword, which she managed to get out just in time. She jumped up in the air and over Gin, standing in the air above him… She then ran in the air toward the doors, but was cut off immediately by Gin, who kicked her in the face, sending her flying backwards. Senna knew that she wouldn't be able to escape, so she released her Zanpakuto, calling out its name.

"Fly! Razorwings! She called. Her Zanpakuto glowed and exploded around her, and seconds later, she came out looking more avian than humanoid, and she had feathered wings on her back. She flew up into the air and toward Gin, dodging each of his sword thrusts. She then stopped and released a barrage of feather razors at him. They stuck in the ground all around him, and then exploded. When the smoke cleared, however, Gin came out unharmed. He smirked and slashed his blade through the air so fast that she couldn't even see it, and she was struck. She fell to the ground, bloody, now. She knew that she needed to call on her secret weapon. She may die because she used it, but that was a risk that she had to take.

"Second Release! Razorwings of the Crimson Death!" she called, as another explosion occurred. She flew out of the smoke faster than Gin could prepare for, and she punched him. Having already healed her wound, she was fine for now. Gin flew back against the wall, and was met in less than an instant by a huge barrage of punches. Senna suddenly stopped, though, and ran. It was her chance. She used her Sonido to blur through the halls of Las Noches and finally make it to the doors of the palace. When she left, though, she saw an unfamiliar man about to walk through. And with him were several incredibly powerful Arrancar. Most of them looked like they were even more powerful than she was which was hard to believe. She knew that she was incredibly powerful, but she also knew that however powerful she was, Gin was at least twice as powerful. But now, Senna could feel a power radiating off of Aizen that blew any comprehension she had of true power right out of the water.

Aizen looked at her with a knowing grin and then looked up again without saying anything. For a few moments, neither spoke. Senna was too nervous, and Aizen was having too much fun watching her nerves tear her apart. After a little while, though, he got bored and spoke.

"I have no intention of harming you, Senna. In fact, I wish to employ your assistance in defeating Gin. He has proven most disloyal, and though it pains me to do so, I must dispose of such traitors."

"I don't intend to stay. I'm going to the human world to look for Kurosaki." She said quietly, hoping that he would allow her to leave peacefully, as she knew that she couldn't defeat him, even in her second released state.

"That's a shame. I was really hoping for a few more powerful allies. You do of course know that Kurosaki has become a captain in Soul Society, right?" Aizen asked with a grin that told her that he knew that she did know.

"Of course I know. Lord Aizen, I have nothing against you, but I am rather tired of Hueco Mundo. Perhaps I will come back after I finish my business in the human world. However, I consider this much more important than who rules the Arrancar."

"I see. Well, I can't force you, but know that you are always welcome in Las Noches. If you aren't planning to be part of the fighting, I would suggest that you leave summarily. It won't be a very pretty sight, I'm afraid."

With that, Aizen walked past her briskly, beckoning for his loyal Arrancar to follow him. Already, there should have been dozens of Arrancar still loyal to Aizen in Gin's throne room. He would attempt to get Gin to submit to him once more. However, he didn't expect one such as Gin to be so obedient in any situation, much less when he still believed himself to be superior to Aizen. Aizen fully expected to have to fight Aizen. Fortunately, Gin was only slightly more powerful than Ichigo. Ichigo was quite powerful. However, Aizen was a fair deal more powerful. He had pretended to go down because he wasn't ready to reveal his trump card just yet when the winter war came around. He took a big blow to his forces in that war. However, he was then "disposed of" by Ichigo. However, he had strategically kept the Arrancar legacy alive by allowing Gin to think that he could take over and rule in Aizen's place. This kept the Arrancar in line while Aizen continued to send more and more powerful hollows into be shinigamified, and they were loyal to Aizen, and so, spied on Gin using their special powers. They developed their powers and reported to Aizen secretly on that front. Most of them had developed their second release, just like Ulquiorra had, but they were much more powerful, and all of them were loyal to Aizen and were in the throne room, ready to attack on his command.

Concealing his spiritual pressure, and commanding his followers to do the same. Now practically invisible to Gin and his few followers' radar, they walked through the halls of Las Noches, encountering few problems. As they neared the throne room, they drew their swords and got on their guard for any stray Arrancar that they might have to silence. It could be a bloody battle. However, all of Aizen's servants were prepared to die for him, knowing that their deaths were ultimately for a greater purpose…

Aizen grinned as he threw open the throne room doors and saw Gin sitting on the throne lazily. Senna must have fought him before she left, because he looked slightly worse for the wear. Gin's foxlike smile faded as he saw Aizen and his few followers, and he stood up, noticing that all of the other Arrancar that were in the room had drawn their swords. This time, however, he wasn't sure if they were with him or against him. That could be a problem. He hadn't even expected Aizen to be alive, let alone commanding a small army of powerful Arrancar within Gin's own forces.

That Aizen sure was one for convoluted plots. It had been a plot involving Gin within a plot by Gin within a plot involving Gin. The fox-faced former captain thought for a moment, and was surprised that he hadn't realized it before. It did seem as though Aizen went down just a little bit too easily. Could it really have been that Aizen had foreseen the possibility of his defeat and planned to go down like that so that he could regroup and prepare for the real battle? Maybe he, Gin, had just been another pawn in Aizen's bid to make an early attack on the Shinigami forces to weaken them so that he could strike later when they were scattered and still recovering, or when he had had more time to build an army too powerful for the Soul Society to defeat.

Gin prepared to draw his sword, not wanting to be caught unawares if and when the battle started. However, he stepped down from his throne, and grinned widely, even more so than usual. Aizen continued to smile his usual devious smirk, never taking his eyes off of Gin for a second. After a moment of sizing each other up, Gin spoke first.

"Well, Aizen… I mus' say. I never 'spected you to still be alive. When I saw Kurosaki run you through, I was sure that was the end of you. As you can see, if you're planning to come back, you'll have to accept working for me. I have a fairly large army now, and even th' weakest of 'em is easily twice as powerful as any of the old Arrancar that we attacked Karakura with." Gin hoped that his bluff would work, and that Aizen would just bow to him and it would be over. He didn't really want to have to fight the man. Though Gin was fairly sure that he could defeat Aizen, he wasn't sure if he could get away without being severely injured, and possibly destroying half or more of Las Noches in the process.

"Gin, Gin, Gin…" Aizen said, shaking his head and tutting gently. He then looked up at Gin with a coldly malicious grin and pulled out his sword. Fortunately, the illusions that the sword created only affected those whom he wanted it to affect. Therefore, he could get Gin with it, and still allow his army to attack Gin at the same time.

"Did you really think that you could fool me with such a weak bluff? You must know by now that I have already prepared for all of these Arrancar to be in the throne room at this moment. All of them are ready to fight you and any other Arrancar who feel like opposing my return to power. I must say that you are lucky, Gin. I have not fought seriously in a good while, so I am slightly rusty. I don't know if I can quite live up to your high expectations of me. I'll try, though…" Aizen said, drawing his sword and releasing it all in one motion, flashing at Gin so fast that he seemed to completely disappear, spiritual pressure and all. Gin knew Aizen's style like the back of his hand, though, and figuring out where Aizen would strike first was like finding a needle in a haystack.

Gin turned around halfway and released his Shinsô, only extending it slightly, just enough to block Aizen's first slash, which came directly from behind. Gin then jumped up onto the tip of Aizen's blade, and crouched there for a moment on one foot, grinning psychotically at the brown haired ex-captain and then released Shinso again right at Aizen's face. Aizen smirked and caught the blade in his hand, feeling the blade cut into his flesh ever so slightly, leaving just a hint of a cut. Aizen had really only put the other Arrancar in the throne room as backup in case he needed them. However, Aizen wasn't entirely sure if he would. He very well might, though. Gin was slippery, and quite powerful. There was a strong chance that Aizen's and Gin's Arrancar would also go head to head, and whoever remained after the battle would help their respective leader fight the other leader.

Gin grimaced and drew his blade back. He had never been great at refined Kidô. However, he was decent at channeling the raw power that created Kidô. So, he created a glowing white ball on his hands and thrust them out in front of him, sending the white ball screaming at Aizen, who merely smirked and allowed the blast to envelop him. However, when the smoke cleared, Aizen appeared unharmed. He had cancelled it out completely with a Kidô of similar but opposite force immediately as it hit him, causing it to explode, but for no harm to be done to him. Gin cursed as Aizen grinned and flashed out of sight again, using flash step to dance around the throne room and then attacked again, using his illusion to its fullest, allowing him to cut Gin. However, Gin managed to feel the metal at the last moment and avoided taking any major damage.

Staring at Aizen hatefully, Gin gripped his side, which had a long, but fairly shallow cut in it. Aizen then smirked and dropped his sword on the ground, allowing it to melt into a pool of silvery liquid at his feet. Gin immediately knew what was happening… and he was terrified. He had seen Aizen's bankai only once, and it was a truly awesome thing to lay eyes on, especially because it could take any shape that Aizen desired. Aizen's bankai completely trapped the opponent in an illusory world from which there was no escape, and in which the owner of Kyoka Suigetsu had complete control over the opponent's actions in that world. At the moment, Gin was utterly paralyzed. However, there was one thing that Gin could do that would at least soften the blow of any damage done to him. However, he had to do both of them at exactly the right moment, because if he did it even a second too early, or too late, he would be dead. He glared at Aizen, his blood red eyes now open for all to see. Aizen walked up to him and forced him to his knees, smiling in that terrifyingly knowing and infuriatingly arrogant way at him. He then patted Gin on the head and stepped back, taking a deep breath.

"This is going to be taxing for me, Gin. Please understand that I didn't really want it to end this way. However, I feel quite certain that you will die from this Kidô. It is, after all, my specialty." Aizen smirked and donned his hollow mask, increasing his spiritual pressure exponentially, nearly causing Gin to be crushed under the sheer weight and malevolence of it.

"Entropy, shade thyself from the sun. Hold true to thy dark objectives and thrive in the chaos that hath been created for you. The chaos of the Abyss knows no bounds, and comes forth to spread its influence to the mortal coil. Hadô 100: Coiling Abyss…" Aizen said coldly, causing a small sphere of shrieking black energy to form in his palm. All around them, the wind that was created from the swirling ball in Aizen's palm deafened all of the Arrancar, and nearly swept them off their feet. Aizen's servants stared in awe as he flashed forward and drove the ball into Gin's body. At the very split second of impact, though, Gin activated his bankai and donned his hollow mask, drawing upon its full power all at once, creating a massive and unstable shield of energy that canceled out some of Aizen's attack. However, much of the sphere of pure entropy still went through, and vaporized the shield upon impact, along with his mask, his sword, and grinding to dust almost half of Gin's bones along with turning to pulp several of Gin's internal organs.

Aizen drew back slightly and took off his mask, sealing his sword once more. He looked down at Gin and frowned, sighing. What a shame it was that one of his best officers had to be destroyed like that. But Aizen couldn't just let him escape from this plot with but a slap on the wrist. The brown haired man pushed back his hair, neatening it again and he looked around at all of the Arrancar with a fierce stare. He knew that he probably could not take all of them at once. However, seeing Gin be destroyed so quickly was probably more than enough to put all of them in their place, and then some. Aizen then smiled and held his arms out as if to welcome them.

"I invite you all to continue serving in Las Noches. Very little will change except for who you serve," Aizen said plainly with but a hint of amusement in his voice.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Rukia and Ichigo sat together in the training grounds under Sokyoku Hill, holding hands and simply staring at each other. Neither really knew quite what to say, so they opted to say nothing. Of course, nothing needed to be said. Between dark brown eyes and bright, clear blue ones, no mere words would suffice to convey the message that was passed between them by their gaze alone. Finally, Ichigo attempted to say something, coughing uncomfortably. He had never been very good with women, so he was surprised when Rukia told him that she loved him. After all, she was royalty, and he was hardly even a proper Shinigami. He knew next to nothing of their customs and their ways, and his Kidô was atrocious for a captain level Shinigami. Even though Ichigo had far surpassed almost every captain in the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, he knew that he was a total dunce when it came to Kidô. That was why he had wanted to ask Hinamori to help him learn it, as she was a master of it. He had a feeling that she would refuse, but he had to at least try to connect with her, and who better to teach Ichigo Kidô than a master of spells.

Ichigo had heard recently, though, that Hinamori had been killed when she went to Hueco Mundo against orders to kill Gin. Word had it that Hitsugaya was still pretty shaken up about it, and that he was currently on leave until he could regain his senses. The Commander-General had reasoned that if left to his own devices, he might hurt himself or someone else. So, they effectively arrested him and put him in the Shinigami Institute for Mental Rehabilitation. Ichigo had never been there, but he had heard from others that their staff employed cutting edge technology and psychological principles in order to bring their patients back to health. Ichigo had also heard (not from Rangiku, surprisingly) that Gin sent Hinamori's beaten and bloody body to Toshiro in a package as a "birthday present". That sounded like something Gin would do as a joke.

"Rukia?" Ichigo asked nervously, taking both of her hands in both of his. Rukia looked up at him, her beautiful piercing blue eyes shooting chills up and down his spine every time she so much as glanced at him. She still rarely smiled, but when he did get to see a real smile from her, it was like a million lights lit up the sky around her, causing her entire being to glow with a radiance that he could never hope to understand even if he lived for 1,000 years. God willing he lived that long, maybe someday he would be able to give back even a fraction of what Rukia had given to him. He had never loved anyone more in his entire life, and he didn't think that he ever would. It was amazing to him that he even could feel like this. The feelings that he was experiencing were all relatively new and incomprehensible to him. It was like he just didn't understand why he was feeling how he was, or what he was supposed to do with his feelings. Maybe he was just an idiot. After a long moment of silence that seemed to stretch on forever, Rukia replied to Ichigo.

"Yes, Ichigo?" she asked, her eyes wide. Yes, she was nervous, but somehow she knew that fate had drawn them together, and that she wasn't supposed to fight it. Even if she had a choice, she wouldn't fight it. She had never been happier in her entire life. Up until the time that she met Ichigo, her life had been rather monotonous and lonely. She had been adopted into the Kuchiki clan by Byakuya Kuchiki, and after that, he pretty much left her to her own devices. He had explained why he never acted like he cared about her, but she wasn't sure if she understood what he had said. If she ever got the time again, she would ask him to explain it so that she could understand. But for the moment, she was just happy to be with Ichigo.

"Sometimes, I get the feeling that this is all just a dream. That soon, I'm going to wake up, and I'll be nothing more or less than a weakling human again. That you'll be gone, and I'll be alone. In a way, I want to know if this is a dream so that I can wake up before I get too attached to the dream to ever wake up again… And in a way, I wouldn't mind sleeping away the rest of my life if it could mean being with you. D-do you think that this is just a dream… or an illusion?" Ichigo asked.

Rukia looked at him. She rarely saw this softer, gentler, and even slightly insecure side of him, but when she did see it, it reminded her just why she loved him so much. She loved everything about him, but especially because underneath his hard exterior, he was just another person longing to be loved. They were more similar than she ever could have imagined.

"Well, Ichigo… If this is a dream, then I'm having the same dream as you. But if I can't convince you any other way that this is real, please stand up for a moment…" Rukia said. Ichigo was almost suspicious, but when he saw the smile on her face, he knew that he couldn't refuse, even if he had wanted to. So, he stood up, his hands still holding hers. She pulled her hands out of his and stepped back, doing a sidekick to his face and then hooking it around and bringing the heel of her foot down on the back of his head. Ichigo crashed to the ground, groaning in discomfort. That had really hurt. What was Rukia trying to prove? That she could still kick his ass when she wanted to? She didn't have to prove that. Ichigo wasn't sure that he would fight back even if she did attack him.

After a moment, though, she crouched down and helped him sit up, using Kidô to heal his wounds. Then she sighed.

"If that hurt, then this isn't a dream…" she said gently, holding him close to her and smiling, closing her eyes. It felt good to be close to him. After a moment, though, Ichigo left the embrace and looked at her, blushing slightly.

"I've kind of… wanted to do this for a long time, Rukia…" he said, gulping and then drawing nearer to her, taking her in a strong embrace with one arm and cupping her soft, smooth cheek gently in the other. He then drew their lips toward each other and kissed her. After a moment, he realized what he had done and he fell back, sputtering nervously. Rukia didn't look angry, but he imagined that anger would come after the shock subsided.

"I-I'm sorry! I d-don't know what came over me!!" Ichigo said, bowing in apology. Rukia looked at him, fixing him with a serious stare, leading him to believe that she really was angry, but then she burst into laughter. Her laughter was just as beautiful as her smile. Her voice produced melodic peals of laughter, like a wind chime in a gentle breeze. As she continued, it felt like her peals of laughter brought out with them a magic that couldn't be matched even by the strongest of Kido, and Ichigo felt himself completely and utterly falling under her spell. If she was controlling him, now, though, he didn't want to resist. He wanted to be filled with that lyrical beauty forever.

"I'm sorry, Ichigo… I'm not laughing at you. The look on your face was hilarious, but, it's just that I've been wondering all evening when you were finally going to get up the courage to kiss me," she laughed, calming down slightly and then smiling, and taking his hands in hers, holding them up so that they were right under their chins.

"You don't need to be embarrassed. You don't need to be sorry. If you want to kiss me, just do it. Don't you think I would have stopped you if I hadn't wanted you to kiss me?"

"I-I guess so…" Ichigo said, leaning in again. This time, he wasn't embarrassed. He just wanted to feel her lips on his again. It felt amazing to be with Rukia like this… It was like worldly concerns were as nothing next to their love. Maybe it was dangerous to be this completely in love, but again, he just didn't care anymore. Their lips touched once more, and again, Ichigo felt an explosion of emotion, like being able to see for the first time after a lifetime of being blind.

After a long moment that Ichigo wished this time would last forever, they broke away from the kiss and looked lovingly into each other's eyes. This time, Ichigo really noticed all of the shimmering colors that went into producing the crystal clear blue that was Rukia's eyes. There was an infinite variety of soft purples, blues, and mixtures of the two that seemed to blend together seamlessly in her irises, reflecting Ichigo's own visage perfectly. Ichigo always felt like Rukia could see right through him. He couldn't lie to her, and even if he could, she would catch him in it, and stop him. She was all powerful. It made him feel incredibly vulnerable, but at the same time, completely safe in the knowledge that she would never hurt him.

After a moment, they kissed again. This time, Ichigo prodded at Rukia's soft pink lips for entrance, which she gladly granted. Behind them, the sun had almost fully set, and there was only a glimmer of it left in the sky. Stars dotted the skyline and between sweet kisses, Ichigo could make out the various constellations. In the city, he had never been able to see the stars, so that was one thing that he did like about the Soul Society. Of course, this was a projected landscape and everything, but still, it was amazing that Kisuke and Yoruichi had made this all by themselves. Ichigo and Rukia were completely alone, and they had the privacy to talk about whatever they wanted with nobody to interrupt them. After all, nobody knew that they were there, and as long as nobody went searching for their spiritual pressure, they would remain alone.

Ichigo's tongue danced around in Rukia's mouth, slowly at first, but then faster and faster, becoming more manic and unpredictable as he explored every inch of the cavern that was Rukia's mouth. After a moment of this, Rukia put her tongue in Ichigo's mouth as well. Though Rukia was more submissive, the two tongues danced for a while, twisting together and tying themselves around the other. Soon, though, the two stopped, and Ichigo began to place gentle butterfly kisses down Rukia's cheek, jaw and her neck, all the way onto her shoulder, baring her slender and creamy shoulder by slipping her gi slowly off of her. Rukia sighed contentedly as Ichigo continued on her. She continued to hold him fast, not wanting to let go for fear that it would all disappear. They had been going out for six months, and they had been the happiest days of her life. Ichigo untied the belt around her waist and watched as it slipped off, and Rukia slowly slipped off his captain's haori, putting a hand gently on his chest and stroking it, feeling his smooth, but strongly muscled chest. Ichigo had found a perfect way to keep himself in peak physical condition without looking like a dorky bodybuilder like Kenpachi did. He looked just like he did the day they first met… extremely thin, and attractive, despite the scowl that he normally wore.

Nimbly untying his belt, and allowing it to fall to the ground, she bared his chest and began stroking it, causing Ichigo to gasp with the unexpected pleasure of it. She pulled his gi off of him and began to touch him all over. Her soft and supple hands were warm to the touch, and they felt amazing, like they were trailing paths of hot reishi all over his body. After a moment of this, gasping and moaning all the way, he pulled off her gi. Rukia blushed and started to cover herself, but stopped after a second. She had always been slightly sensitive about her small breasts. She always felt like maybe they made her less of a woman than someone like Orihime or Rangiku. She had always been slightly jealous of Orihime, and had always wanted to have large breasts like she had. Eventually, though, she had come to accept that she was never going to grow a figure like Orihime's. That didn't mean that she didn't still feel sensitive about it.

Blushing heavily, she looked at Ichigo. As if reading her mind, he smiled at her and spoke.

"Rukia, I don't think any less of you because you have small breasts. They're cute," he said, reaching down and beginning to suck on her right breast, causing the nipple to harden in his mouth. He then flicked his tongue over it, causing her to gasp with the sudden burst of pleasure that she felt. He continued to lick one of her nipples, while he gently kneaded the other breast, and then switched. Groaning in ecstasy, Rukia arched her back into Ichigo's ministrations, loving the feeling of being completely in his control. After a moment, Ichigo reached down and touched her between the legs, causing her to yelp and release a blast of reiatsu before she could stop herself. This was her first time, so she wasn't used to controlling herself like this. Ichigo sat up and looked at her apologetically.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to upset you…" he said quietly, pulling away from her. Rukia immediately pulled him closer, though, and kissed him again.

"I wasn't upset. Just shocked. I-I'm still a virgin, so I don't really know what I'm doing. H-have you ever had sex before?" she asked shyly, blushing. Was it… jealousy that Ichigo was sensing in her?

"Never. I picked up a few things from being forced to watch porn and read hentai at Keigo's apartment, though…" Ichigo said, groaning. Rukia giggled seductively, and licked the seat of Ichigo's pants, exciting his already hardened cock even more. Ichigo screwed his eyes shut, trying not to let himself cum just from that. That would be embarrassing.

"P-please continue, Ichigo… I-it felt… good." Rukia said in almost a whisper, blushing heavily as she did. Ichigo smiled and continued to touch her between her legs, fondling her clit and her pussy and gently prodding her already wet pussy with his middle finger and forefinger, causing Rukia to pant heavily, hardly able to contain the pleasure until she finally begged him to pull her pants down, and take her panties off before she exploded and dirtied them. Ichigo happily obliged and took off her hakama and panties in one pull, looking at her soaking wet pussy. Rukia was sweating hard, now, panting heavily, softly begging for Ichigo to continue. So, Ichigo spread her legs and put his face in between them and began to lick, slowly at first, prodding inside her pussy slightly and licking her clit with his tongue, causing her to yelp and squeal with unrestrained ecstasy. As she finally came, she cried out Ichigo's name, exploding in his mouth. Ichigo immediately licked up her juices and then pulled down his own pants to reveal a huge, and throbbing cock. Rukia gasped, but before he could penetrate her, she took it in her mouth and began to lick all along it, flicking the head with her tongue, watching with satisfaction as Ichigo squirmed. She guessed that she was doing alright if she could get that reaction out of him. After a while, he came into her mouth, projecting his sperm into every corner of her oral cavity and some even started to go down her throat. Rukia pulled away, coughing at first, but then regaining her composure and swallowing all of it. She was so wet down there, and the ache was so great. She wanted so badly for him to be inside her that she could barely stand it. She looked at him longingly and said, "please, fuck me now, Ichigo!" in her breathiest and sexiest voice she could muster. Ichigo was already hard again, but before he started, he asked, "are you sure that you want to do this? We can stop now if you want."

Rukia looked at him with a loving smile and shook her head. She had never wanted anything more badly. "No. I want you inside me so badly right now. I can hardly stand it." After a moment, Ichigo slowly pushed into her, causing her a flash of pain at first. As he entered her pussy and broke past her barrier, she cried out in agony, tears filling her eyes. After a moment, he buried himself in her to the hilt, and looked at her.

"Are you alright?" he asked. She nodded, and he bent over, kissing away her tears and then locking lips with her as he began to move in and out. Ichigo's lips now tasted salty from her tears, and she could feel the pleasure building inside her where the pain had been only moments before. It was almost a crazed feeling that was welling up inside her as she began to meet Ichigo's thrusts with thrusts of her own. She began screaming out Ichigo's name, digging her nails into his back, begging him to fuck her harder, to move faster, and Ichigo obliged her requests, speeding up and going harder, so hard that he could almost hear their bodies coming together and pulling apart. He began to yell out in ecstasy as well, groaning as he felt himself getting closer and closer to climax. Finally, her walls tightened on his cock, and she released, causing him to cum as well. They both screamed out each other's names as they had their respective orgasms, and when they were finished the first time, they went at it again. This time, Rukia knelt and Ichigo entered her pussy from behind her. Ichigo couldn't believe how amazing this felt. It was like they were the only two people in the entire universe and this was all that mattered. As he began to thrust harder, panting as he did, he held tight to her hips, pushing and pulling her body with his.

Rukia was also having trouble comprehending this. Her knees and elbows felt weak, like she was going to collapse from the waves of pleasure that coursed through her entire body. As she released again, she cried out to the sky, howling Ichigo's name into the heavens, and Ichigo did the same. After that, she put her hands up against the rock that they were leaning up against and Ichigo entered her again. Both Ichigo and Rukia felt like they could go all night if they wanted to. Neither knew when they were going to want to stop. Only that the ecstasy that coursed through their veins was greater and more powerful than any drug could ever be. Ichigo thrust a few more times and then came inside Rukia again, screaming out like a wild animal as he came. At the same time, Rukia came as well. Their juices mixed together, seeping out of Rukia's pussy and dripping onto the ground.

"Do you want more, Ichigo?" Rukia asked with a smirk. Though Ichigo was sweating heavily, he nodded breathlessly. Rukia then smirked even wider and said, "Why don't you try my ass. I-I want you inside my ass, Ichigo."

Ichigo grinned and then held Rukia's hips as she braced herself against the rock. Ichigo immediately entered her asshole and buried himself all the way in. Waiting almost no time, he began to thrust. Rukia groaned in pleasure, positively drooling now, hardly able to control herself as Ichigo fucked her harder and harder, and he began to hit deeper and deeper. After a few thrusts, he began hitting her rectum, causing her to shriek and white stars to burst before her eyes. Ichigo continued, though, and with every thrust, her pleasure increased tenfold. This was like nothing that she had ever experienced before, and soon, she came, and her juices dripped all over the ground and down her leg.

"Are you ready to stop, Rukia?" Ichigo asked, willing to stop if she wanted him to. He could probably have gone on for hours, but he wasn't sure how long she wanted to go.

"Only… only if you are… Ichigo. Th-this is both our first times. I want to pleasure you completely." She said breathlessly, leaning against Ichigo for support.

"Are you sure? You look tired."

"Positive. P-please continue… if you wish…" Rukia said genuinely. Ichigo knew that she meant it, so, he pushed into her again and began thrusting. This time, it didn't hurt at all when he pushed in, and a wave of pleasure immediately washed over Rukia, numbing all her other senses as he fucked her again and again. Finally, after he came for the fifth time after their "talk", he pulled out and leaned against the rock, completely spent. Rukia smiled at Ichigo. She had been spent three or four times ago, but she didn't want to stop him in the middle of things, and he had pleasured her in ways that she could never have imagined. She also tried to imagine what Byakuya would say if he ever found out. Of course, both of them knew that he never could. Rukia had known that their date that night might lead to sex, so she had taken some contraceptives preemptively so that she wouldn't get pregnant, which would certainly be bad. After a moment, the two collapsed on the ground, and fell asleep in each other's arms, ignoring the fact that they were in Urahara's training ground. The next morning, they cleaned up, got dressed, and went back about their business as if nothing had happened. Ichigo and Rukia both knew, though, that they were more in love than ever, and that there was no going back for them, now. They had only forward to look.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Toshiro groaned as he sat in Karakura Park, staring at the passersby. Apparently, humans called the activity in which he was partaking "people watching". It was considered an interesting and even fun pastime that humans spent hours doing on occasion, when their lives weren't so damn busy that they could barely stop to breathe. Toshiro snorted in disgust. Humans were barbarians all. Their cars and industrial buildings poured wave after billowing wave of pollutants into the air, causing their so called ozone layer to erode, and then they complained when they had to be careful of the sun. Their information technology was what the Soul Society used over 100 years earlier, and though their buildings in Soul Society looked like they were from the Edo Period, the technology that they had was quite advanced.

Perhaps there was some hope for the humans, though. After all, if Urahara cared to, he could probably revolutionize research and development, computers, and all other manner of technology. Toshiro didn't think that Urahara would be up for that, though. He didn't care, though. He just sat there on the bench, allowing random thoughts to wade through his mind at a leisurely, perhaps even sluggish pace. He was in no rush to go back to thinking about Hinamori. He had taken a one month hiatus in the human world on the condition that he be ready to fight hollows should the need arise. He was ready to accept such a condition, though. After all, no matter whether he was "people watching" or fighting hollows, it would take his mind off of Momo.

Ah, yes… Suddenly, his tenuous but relaxing peace came crashing down around him as the subject in his mind turned back to Momo. His head slowly dropped into his left hand, and he felt tears forming in his eyes. Suddenly, he could see Hinamori's mangled body as clear as day, as if he was standing right there staring at it again. As his breathing rate began to increase, he started sweating heavily, and he felt his chest tightening. It was getting harder and harder for him to breathe, like his lungs were closing off, his windpipe restricting and at the same time, forcing air out. A cold feeling of helplessness washed over him like a November rainstorm, and he fell to his hands and knees. He had never felt quite so alone and powerless in his life… At least not that he could remember. Just as he was about to pass out, though, the blurry outline of a person appeared over him, and started to lean over.

Karin crouched down and felt for Toshiro's pulse. He wasn't dead. Quite the contrary. He was still sweating profusely, and his heart was beating so fast that it sounded more like a motor than a heartbeat. She groaned and pulled out her cell phone, dialing up the number for Karakura General, having long since learned it by heart for all the times that she had dialed it. No matter how many times she did, though, she always hated its president, that Ishida guy. He was a real jerk, and too businesslike for his own damn good. Karin had heard that he had a son, but that the two were estranged. Given what an ass he was, she wasn't surprised. What did surprise her, though, was that any woman was able to stand him long enough to have a child with him. Go figure.

As she waited for the ambulance, she sat down next to Toshiro and sighed, trying to sort our what she was going to tell her father about why she suddenly got the urge to go out, and how she ran into this white haired kid again. Karin's father was quite possibly the most paranoid parent alive when it came to whom his daughters associated with, and a kid with apparently bleached hair and a permanent scowl on his face probably wouldn't rank high on Isshin's list of boys to trust with Karin, especially when she had brought him home with her once before. It was almost funny to see Isshin's reaction. He looked like he was going to burst a blood vessel. His mouth was agape and his eyes were wide like he had just been kicked in the nuts. Conversely, Yuzu was as polite as ever and offered him something to eat, which he immediately turned down with a rather short "no, thank you."

Now, Karin seemed to be running into him at every turn, and it was even getting a little weird. In fact, she never even knew that ghosts could have panic attacks, or asthma attacks, or whatever it was that he had just had. Just as she had started to accept that maybe this was going to become normal for her, the medics arrived, and picked Toshiro up on a stretcher, bringing him over to the ambulance, toward which Karin summarily followed. At first, the medics tried to stop her, but then she said that they were together when he had a panic attack, and they let her in.

"What's his name?" the male medic asked. He was rather fat with a friendly face and intelligent brown eyes that made him look far too smart for this kind of low level job. That was neither here nor there, though.

"Um… Toshiro Hitsugaya," Karin answered.

"What's his real hair color?" the woman asked. She was quite a bit older than the man, and even though her face looked stern, she seemed like a nice person.

"This is his natural hair color. It's always been this way, though he never told us why."

"What is your relationship to him?" The woman asked quickly.

"What does that matter!?" Karin snapped. The man smiled innocuously and laughed.

"Relax. It's just for our records. We need to know who called us on his behalf."

"It's complicated. He's a work acquaintance of my older brother, I think."

"But, he couldn't possibly be any older than 13," the man said, scratching his head. "Is… Is he one of those child prodigies?" he whispered, leaning over Toshiro toward Karin, who smiled and nodded.

"Yeah. He graduated from a foreign university last year, and got a job with my brother. Don't ask me what he does, I'm not entirely sure."

"Okay. Fair enough. Do you know anything about where his parents live?"

"No. He never talked about…" Karin began. Suddenly, though, Toshiro's eyes shot open, much to the surprise of the medics, who had expected him to be out for a while due to the trace amount of gas that they had in the oxygen tank. Toshiro quickly ripped off the mask and sat up just as abruptly, looking around in alarm. After a moment, he saw Karin, and he became even more agitated. She knew his true identity. If she was questioned about him, she could ruin everything. Most likely they would just think her talk was the ranting of a ditzy twelve year old with her head in the clouds. But the chance was still there. His arms shot out and he thrust the two medics away from him, staring hard at them.

"Stop the vehicle, _now_!" he demanded.

"Are you nuts, kid!? We can't just let you leave!"

"Please don't make me force you, because I will if I have to!"

"Help me hold him down…" the woman said to the man, both of whom grabbed Toshiro and tried to push him back onto the stretcher. Toshiro easily reversed their momentum, though and flipped them across his chest into opposite walls, dazing both of them for several minutes before he stood and walked over to the door. Before he left, though, he glared at Karin.

"Kurosaki, I know you meant well, but you shouldn't have done anything. I would have been fine."

"Toshiro!! You weren't fine! You muttered something about some girl named Momo in your sleep. Who is she?"

"SHUT UP!!" Toshiro shouted angrily, but then calmed down. "I-it's none of your business, Kurosaki. The things that affect Shinigami would make your head spin if you understood even half of them! Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong, or you're liable to lose it!" he said, trying to suppress his annoyance at her for bringing up Momo. He then looked back at her placidly, and muttered an apology before ripping the door off its hinges quite literally and jumping from the speeding ambulance, landing on the street and tumbling a few times to minimize the damage.

Karin watched him helplessly as they continued to get further and further apart. There was very little that she could do, though. Unlike Toshiro, she couldn't just jump out the back of a moving vehicle. She would just have to wait until she got to the hospital and then try to explain what happened to the medics to the driver, who would most likely be very shocked to see the devastation in the back. After all, the stretcher was bent and twisted, all of the oxygen tanks were leaking, and the ambulance was missing a back door. It would pretty hard to explain how a twelve year old girl could do all that and manage to knock out two medics all in the period of twenty minutes. That meant that Karin had to get out of the ambulance as well, or it would be bad news for her. She thought for a moment, and then decided that at the next red light, she would jump out, and make a run for it. Hopefully the two medics, who unfortunately were just in the way, would be alright.

When she got her chance, she ran to the hole in the back and jumped, landing hard on her feet, twisting her ankle. With a sharp cry of pain, she stood and started running, albeit with a slight limp. She had to find Toshiro before he managed to get into any more trouble, or he managed to hurt himself even more. She wondered if he would even go back to the park. It seemed a little bit too obvious for someone like him. He had said last time that he was going to stay in an abandoned building somewhere, but Karin had said that he could stay at the clinic. He had grudgingly accepted the last time. That didn't mean that he would again, though, although it was possible that he went there. It was more likely, however, that he went to someplace like Urahara Shoten.

She took a sharp left, changing her course to go to Urahara Shoten. Even if he wasn't there, she reasoned, they might at least know where he was. After all, that old man and his cat seemed to know just about everything, although neither of them ever seemed to say all that they knew on a subject. Perhaps they were just secretive people, but Karin had always been suspicious of them. If they were like her brother, and like Toshiro, then why weren't they back in Soul Society, where they belonged, and why didn't they wear the same clothes that all of the other Shinigami wore. Even if they had been captains, they would have worn that black samurai getup, but with a white haori.

Karin crossed the street, not bothering to look, and was hit hard by a car that wasn't able to stop in time and sent her flying through the intersection and through the windshield of another car, where she slumped over, bleeding heavily not just from the bone that had ripped open her right leg, but also from the large gashes that covered her body from the glass. The driver of the car whose windshield was now shattered shrieked as her face and clothes were spattered with blood, and she slammed on the brakes, causing her children in the backseat to yell as the car skidded across the intersection and was slammed from both sides by cars that were just passing through, not really paying attention, causing the windshield to break completely, and Karin to slide off the car, down the hood and to land with a thump on the street in front of the car in a large pool of blood, having left a long, wet streak of blood down the hood.

The woman gasped as she opened her eyes again, looking back at the children and noticing that they were dazed and had a few minor scratches, but that none of them were majorly injured. She then looked at the front of her car, and noticed that Karin was no longer there. She undid her seatbelt and shattered the remaining pieces of her windshield and climbed out through it, ordering the children to stay in the car. All around was mass hysteria, people looking around, trying to see what had went wrong to cause such a mess. Several dozen people had already gotten out of their cars and crowded around Karin, who was lying motionless on the street in an ever growing pool of blood, her own.

The woman looked at her, hardly able to breathe. She couldn't understand why God would take the life of such a young child. She was a very religious woman by nature, and had always believed that God had a plan for everyone. But how did Karin figure into God's plan? Was it his intention for her to die, or perhaps it was his intention for her to save Karin? She knew CPR. But she wasn't sure if it was safe to use it when she had so many injuries already. CPR could be dangerous in itself. People had been known to inadvertently break bones when compressing the subject's chest.

After a moment, she knelt down and began to straighten Karin out. Before she could do anything, though, she was stopped from behind by a man wearing geta and using a cane. Behind the mysterious man was a monster of a man with his hair in braids and his body so muscular that he might have just been a bodybuilder. The bodybuilder was holding onto two children, a shy looking girl with black pigtails of about nine or ten years, and a tan skinned boy with shocking red hair who looked to be about eleven or twelve. The mysterious geta man bent down and gently pushed the woman aside, smiling politely at her and assuring her that everything was going to be alright. He seemed extremely suspicious, though, to her, and at first, she didn't move. But then the man stood up and spoke.

"Hello, may I have everyone's attention. Please gather around me for a moment, and I will help to sort this mess out!"

Slowly, everyone circled around the man, and once everyone was there, including the woman, he pulled out what looked like a child's toy and pressed the button on it. Suddenly, there was a blast of air and a cloud of smoke, and everyone, including the people still at the edge of the intersection and for several thousand feet around (just for good measure) were knocked unconscious, having just had their memories modified. Kisuke grinned and then sighed in relief, picking up Karin's body and using Shunpo to get back to the shop. Tessai picked Jinta up with one hand and Ururu up with the other, and Shunpod behind him, keeping up fairly well, even though it had been a while since he had done it.

When they got back to the shop, Orihime and the others were already there, having been called in before Kisuke left. That morning, Kisuke had gotten a feeling that something tragic would happen. He wasn't exactly sure what, or exactly when, but he knew that it would happen relatively near the shop and that it would involve someone that he knew, so, Kisuke went out for a walk around then and started looking around the town, and lo and behold, he suddenly heard the sounds of a large accident in the intersection three blocks away from his own shop. Orihime gasped when she saw Karin. She had seen some pretty bad injuries in her time, and most didn't faze her at all, but these were gruesome beyond description. Both her lower leg bones on her right leg were broken, and one of them was sticking right out through the muscle and flesh, leaving it to look as though her leg had two knees on it. She had glass shards all over her body, and blood soaked most of her clothes and was still running copiously down her body, soaking into her hair, and anything that would absorb it.

Kisuke laid her down on a mat that he had gotten out earlier that day. It had clean sheets on it, but he didn't really care much about the sheets or the mat, since the mat was quite old. He looked solemnly at Orihime and before he could ask her anything, she nodded and walked over to Karin, kneeling down at her side.

"I-I don't think that I've ever had to actually bring anyone back from the dead before. I can do it, but I don't know how good a job I'll be able to do," she said softly, focusing on Karin and drawing out her powers, surrounding her with a golden light. Immediately, Karin's leg bones moved back into the right places and sealed themselves and the skin and muscle on the leg reattached themselves. That was relatively easy, but the damage done from losing so much blood, and from not breathing for such an extended period of time. She wasn't sure how long Karin had not been breathing for, but the damage to her body and brain had to be relatively severe, since after even five minutes, the brain starts to be damaged.

Orihime focused harder, feeling sweat forming on her forehead, and she could feel herself becoming fatigued. Just getting her heart beating and her lungs going again were the hardest parts. She had managed to revive her, but she didn't know how much longer she could continue to heal like this. After a moment, Orihime collapsed, and the golden field around Karin flickered and died.

Kisuke sighed and looked around, smiling sadly. "Well, unless someone else can perform extraordinary healing magic around here, I'm afraid this is all that we can do for her. The rest, we'll have to leave to a doctor."

"I think that I may be able to help. Hello, Urahara-san… Do you remember me?" Asked a deep voice from the doorway. Kisuke looked over and saw Hachigen standing in the door with the same expression that he had over 100 years before. Without waiting for an invitation, he walked in and looked at Karin, tilting his head to the left, and then to the right, and then poking Karin a few times. He then knelt down on one knee and focused his spirit energy, directing it at Karin. He then looked over his shoulder and smiled.

"You know, I've never actually healed a human before. I've healed Shinigami and Hollows alike, but never a human, and never one this young. Why, she couldn't possibly be any older than 13. What happened that caused her to be in such a state of disrepair?"

"Geez, Hachi…" Yoruichi said chidingly. "You're the same as always. You speak as though she's a bike that got broken. She's a human for kami's sake. And she got hit by a car. Several, I think, actually."

"I see. Humans are quite delicate, aren't they?" he asked, tutting once and going back to work on Karin. After a few moments, he sighed and stood up, having finished fixing her up.

"There. Good as new. My powers aren't quite as great as Miss Inoue's, so I don't know what her mental state will be like when she wakes up, but there shouldn't be a mark on her anymore."

With that, Hachigen stood and walked out, seemingly as quickly as he had come in, leaving Uryu and the others to wonder slightly if he had even been there at all, or if it had been their imaginations playing tricks on them.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"Ugh!!" Karin cringed. There was an awful feeling that she couldn't quite describe that seemed to fill her entire body. Her head was swimming in a white haze of dizziness, and no matter how still she laid, she couldn't shake the feeling that her whole body was one massive injury. Still, it wasn't quite pain that she was feeling. It was more like the pain was so intense that it had transcended any normal comprehension of the word, and taken on a form that didn't quite hurt, but rather, made her feel like she was going to throw up. For an extremely long moment, she couldn't remember anything; her name, where she was, how she had gotten there, why she felt the way she did… After mulling it over for a while, though, it started to come back to her in brief flashes of memory until her entire memory was filled in. Once she remembered, though, she sort of wished that she hadn't. The memories only made her headache and her nausea worse.

She bolted upright on the mat on which she was sleeping, and fought through the immediate dizzy spell, and then stood up, running to the bathroom, ignoring the fact that she could barely walk, let alone run. She ran past Orihime and shoved her so hard that she toppled over, spilling the tea that she had made all over the floor and herself and shattering all of the china cups in which she had made the tea, and she slammed the bathroom door behind her, running to the toilet and finally hurling over the side. But I'll leave the more unpleasant descriptions of it to your imagination.

Outside, Orihime moaned and sat up, looking down at her clothes, and then at the floor, both of which were soaked with hot water. Orihime hadn't been that badly hurt. She had spilled tea on herself before, but it was always when she was with Tatsuki, or alone. She felt so embarrassed that she was always so clumsy. The whole thing had happened so fast that she hadn't even realized that someone had pushed her. She just thought that she had lost her balance, which made her feel doubly stupid. Then, she looked at the cups, which were scattered across the floor in tiny pieces. She gasped and covered her mouth just as Kisuke and Yoruichi walked out to see what had happened.

"I-I'm so sorry, Mr. Urahara!! I-I-I broke your cups! I promise, I'll buy you some n-new ones!!" she cried, bowing in apology. Kisuke and Yoruichi just stood there for a moment, their mouths agape, and then they started laughing.

"W-what's so funny?" Orihime sniffed, feeling a little bit hurt that they were laughing at her.

"Don't worry about it, Miss Inoue…" Kisuke said, still suppressing a fit of giggles. "They're just teacups. When did you make tea, anyhow? I don't remember you putting on water."

"A-about three or four minutes ago?" Orihime said, standing up and shaking her head to clear her mind of the static that had ensued after she toppled over like that. At that moment, Karin opened the door, hanging on the knob weakly, groaning, drool still dribbling down her chin from rinsing her mouth out after she finished throwing up. She looked at Urahara, Yoruichi, and Orihime suspiciously, and then tried to stand up straight, but, failing at that, continuing to grasp the door for support.

Orihime walked over to Karin and held out her hand in an offer to help her walk back to her bed.

"Karin-chan… You should go back to bed. I'll take you to your room. Kurosaki-kun should be here relatively soon. I guess it took him longer than he expected to get clearance to come to the human world."

"I see. W-what about my family? D-do they know? Are they alright?" Karin asked, suddenly alarmed at the thought that her family might not know where she was, or if she was alright. Actually, she wasn't even sure if she was alright. Her memory of the exact details of how she got to be this way were still a little bit hazy. She remembered seeing a person and then hearing a horn, and then she didn't remember anything after that.

"Yuzu and Dr. Kurosaki are fine, Karin-chan. You should get some rest, really…" Orihime said a little bit more forcefully, pushing her toward the room that she had been in. Before they got there, though, the door opened, and three people walked in, failing to knock first.

"Inoue! Is Karin alright!?" Ichigo said a little bit louder than he meant to. He looked around, then saw Karin and walked over to her, making it across the floor in three long strides. He looked at her. She didn't look like she was hurt.

"I had heard that she had some fatal injuries. Who fixed all of them? It doesn't look like there's a mark on her."

"Miss Inoue did, of course! She did an incredible job. Miss Kurosaki was dead when we brought her here, and Miss Inoue brought her back to life and everything!" Kisuke said brightly, waving his fan, causing Orihime to turn slightly pink.

"Thank you, Inoue…" Ichigo said politely, looking solemnly at Orihime. "You didn't use up too much energy? I didn't realize that you could revive people…"

"Kurosaki-kun, I-I appreciate your concern, but I'm not the weak little girl that I was when you left. I've been training every day to make myself more powerful, and this is the result. Granted, resurrection is still a little bit difficult, but I can heal even the most grievous of injuries without breaking a sweat. So I don't need you to worry about me anymore."

"Th-that's great, Inoue. You know, with power like yours, you could probably get into the Shinigami Academy without much trouble, and we need Kidô users and healers now more than ever. With Aizen's army being revitalized under Ichimaru, there's no telling what the future might hold. We need as many people as we can get," Ichigo said to Orihime, distracted momentarily from Karin. Rukia looked at Ichigo. She knew that he was right. With things the way they were, they couldn't get enough healers, and with a power like Orihime's, the ability to bring people back to life, there was no end to the help that she could be to the Thirteen Court Guards.

"Um… W-well… I-I don't know. I mean, I would have to leave my friends behind, and…"

"Just think about it, Orihime…" Rukia said, stepping in and allowing Ichigo to go back to Karin. Karin looked at Ichigo, her eyes watery. She hadn't cried in… years, but this accident had really shaken her resolve. She wasn't sure of anything anymore. She had come so close to dying. She had even seen the other side. She was on her way to Soul Society, and about to enter when Orihime's magic pulled her back. In a way, she resented being forced back into the mortal coil, but in a way, she was glad that she didn't have to die so soon.

"Hey, Captain Hitsugaya… Come over here. You asked if you could come. Are you going to stand in the doorway all night?" Ichigo asked, smiling at Toshiro, a rare gesture for Ichigo, except when he was around Rukia or his family. Slowly and hesitantly, Toshiro closed the door behind him, removed his shoes and walked in, his eyes displaying none of the usual confidence that he had. When he had heard that Karin had been hurt by a car, his mind immediately jumped to her trying to jump out of the moving ambulance after him. He was relieved then when he found that she had not tried to imitate him. That relief was short lived, though, when he walked past a store and saw the news. It said that a girl of twelve or thirteen years with medium length black hair and hazel eyes was hit by a car and sent into the windshield of another car, at which point, the second car stopped, causing two more cars to hit it, sending her off the car and onto the pavement. Upon seeing a picture of the blood all over the scene, he had been certain that she had died. He wasn't sure of what to do, so he went and found Orihime, who ran over to Urahara's as quickly as she could, since she assumed that he would know what to do. For a while, Toshiro sat in the park, staring at the small pond in it until he got bored and decided to go for a walk. On his walk, he ran into Ichigo and Rukia and asked where they were going. When they said that they were going to Urahara's to see Karin, Toshiro asked if he could join them, though he wouldn't explain why.

And now, here he was, standing in front of Karin without anything really to say. The two looked at each other for a moment, their faces expressionless, although, Toshiro was sure that he could see a flicker of anger every now and then in Karin's eyes. Then, suddenly, she punched him and jumped on top of him, continuing her assault.

"You idiot!! You ass!! You moron!!! I was just trying to help you! The medics were just trying to help you! And you knock the two of them unconscious, destroy the back of the ambulance, rip the damn door off its hinges and jump off the back of a moving vehicle!? NEWS FLASH!! HUMANS aren't supposed to be able to do that! What do you think would happen if people started getting suspicious and looked into who you really were!? I told them you were a work associate of my brother's! They would look into that and find out that my brother is officially dead, and that you don't even exist! Then they'd look me up and find out that my father runs a clinic and there'd be a whole mess of trouble for MY FAMILY!! You know, for a genius, you really are a moron!!" Karin screamed, having long gotten over her headache and nausea. After a moment, she stood up and offered to help Toshiro stand up as well. He didn't take it, though. Not immediately. He just laid there, looking dejected, like someone had just ripped his heart out.

"I-I'm sorry, Kurosaki. I-I didn't mean to make trouble for you…" he said quietly, standing up on his own, putting on his shoes again and leaving almost as quickly as he had gotten there.

After the initial shock had subsided, Karin realized that everyone was staring at her. She put a hand up, as if to block herself from everyone's sight and ran out the door after Toshiro. She looked around and saw that he was still walking down the street, away from the shop.

Karin called out to him loudly. Either he didn't hear, though, or he wasn't listening, because he kept walking. Not one to be ignored, though, Karin ran after him as quickly as she could, finding that oddly, her running had become much swifter. In fact, it was like she weighed nothing at all. She was running so fast that she had almost caught up to him in less than a minute. At that moment, though, a hapless walker turned the bend and Karin was about to run him over. Before she hit him, though, she jumped, and even though the man was over six feet tall, she easily cleared his head and landed on the other side, continuing to chase Toshiro. After a moment, she caught up to him and grabbed his shoulder. Even though he didn't turn around, she could tell that he was shocked.

"I felt a massive spike in your spiritual pressure just now, Kurosaki. You jumped clean over that man, didn't you?" Toshiro asked, finally turning around and looking at Karin seriously. Karin nodded numbly, hardly able to believe what had just happened. There was no way such a feat should be humanly possible. But she had easily jumped six and a half feet in the air and landed just as gracefully.

"Your meeting with death caused your spiritual powers to fully awaken. You are now stronger, faster, and more agile than any normal human. I say any normal human because there are exceptions. Uryu Ishida would be one exception. He's a Quincy."

"What's…"

"Never mind. It's unimportant. What is important is that you now have a choice before you. Similar to Inoue's situation, you are more powerful than most humans could ever dream of being. You could continue living your life as a human. You'd probably become a famous athlete, maybe a professional soccer player or something to that effect. You'd be rich and famous, and nobody would be able to match you on the field. If instead, you'd rather learn more about your powers, and learn to develop them, and increase them, you're welcome to join the Thirteen Court Guard Companies. Most likely you wouldn't be famous, and you definitely wouldn't be rich. But you'd live knowing that you were serving a greater cause. The Thirteen Court Guard Squads protect the world of the living, and purify Hollows. Right now, although it may not seem like it, we are at war. We are at war with a man named Ichimaru Gin. About two years ago, he, along with two other men defected Soul Society, and started turning Hollows into something called an Arrancar. An Arrancar is a Hollow that has been given Shinigami powers, and then something strange happened. Ichigo defeated Aizen. It was the ending that nobody expected. But, unfortunately, the whole thing just led to another chapter of the war. Everyone thought that Aizen had been pulling the strings behind the Arrancar and the attacks on the human world, and he had. But Gin had been pulling Aizen's strings. Please do not ask me to explain it fully since I don't understand it completely myself. Most of it took place well before my time as a Shinigami. But anyway, now Aizen and their other comrade are dead, and Gin leads the Arrancar alone. He has amassed a powerful army of the highest order of Hollows in existence, the Vastorodes. If he completes his army and attacks, there will be nothing that we can do. We need to destroy him and his army before he can destroy us, and thereafter, destroy the world."

"Um… H-Hitsugaya? W-what are you talking about!? You weren't even making half sense with all that mumbo jumbo!" Karin yelled, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation.

"I'm asking you if you will train as a Shinigami. The Thirteen Court Guard Squads need more members, and right now, we can't afford to pick and choose where we get them, especially if they're as talented as you are."

"Thank you for the offer, but I'll have to think about it…" Karin said quietly, starting to walk away. Before she could go anywhere, though, she ran into a girl who looked to be in her mid-teens, with violet hair, a red ribbon tying it back in a ponytail, and bright amber eyes. She was wearing a gigai, so she no longer wore her Arrancar uniform, which she had always hated, anyhow. She looked at Toshiro and Karin, who stepped back, gaping.

"S-S-Senna!?" Karin asked, remembering vaguely who this girl was. Ichigo had brought her home almost two years earlier with a fishy story about how she was being chased by some shady people. She seemed different, now, though… It was almost like a dark power was radiating off of her.

"KUROSAKI!!!" Toshiro yelled, running toward Karin and grabbing her, twisting around and throwing Karin in the opposite direction. Karin, instead of falling, twisted in the air, landing on her hand, pushing off and landing perfectly behind Toshiro.

"Don't approach this one!! Whoever you think she is, she isn't!! She's a Hollow! I would know their stench anywhere! And this one is extremely powerful…"

"I-I have no interest in fighting you, Captain Hitsugaya, Karin Kurosaki. I merely wish to find Captain Kurosaki Ichigo. I briefly felt his presence in the human world, but now, it seems to be gone again."

"Why should we trust you?" Toshiro asked suspiciously, standing up and out of the ready position, but still prepared to fight at a moment's notice.

"I don't ask that you trust me. I ask that you give me a chance. I have no intention of working for Aizen, nor did I like working for Ichimaru."

"What are you talking about? Aizen is dead! We all saw Ichigo kill him!"

"If only it had been that easy. Aizen faked his own death. I know very little about it, but he came back to Hueco Mundo recently with a small cadre of Arrancar that were even more powerful than I, and he lay siege to Las Noches. I no longer feel Gin's presence, so I must assume that he is dead. Aizen rules Hueco Mundo once again, though I've no idea how long that will last. I have a feeling of dread that a power unlike anything any of us have ever seen is coming, and if it decides to attack us, we are all doomed."

"Fine. Come with me. The Captain should still be at Urahara's. If we hurry, we can still make it," Toshiro said, feeling in a good mood that night for some reason. He couldn't quite place his finger on it, though. It was like he was happy again after being depressed for a long time. He was still sad about Hinamori's death, but it didn't consume him like it did before.

As he led Senna back to Urahara's he thought about the night that he had gotten the package containing Momo's body. That was a cruel joke, even for Gin. He had gotten Toshiro's hopes up that Momo was alright by addressing it to 'Lil' Shiro', and then put Momo's beaten, bloody and dead body in it saying that he hoped he liked the color. Kind of like adding insult to injury. He had been pretty upset that night, and he didn't remember much about it. He remembered that he had been pretty mean to Rangiku, though. He would have to apologize later when he got back to Soul Society. He had said something really horrible to her, though, although he didn't quite remember the exact words that he had used. As he turned into Urahara's shop, he thought about what he would even say to Matsumoto when he got back. Would she even accept his apology? Was what he said so terrible that she would hate him forever? He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't even remember knocking on the sliding paper door, and wasn't paying attention until someone knocked softly on his head, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Captain Hitsugaya? You're back? And Miss Kurosaki is back as well? Who's that behind you, though? She's quite pretty," Yoruichi said with a smile, stepping back to allow all of them in. The three bowed and walked past Yoruichi, standing in the doorway. Yoruichi went over to Senna and looked at her.

"So, what's up? I don't think I've ever seen you before. Are you the captain's girlfriend, or something?" she asked bluntly, causing both Toshiro and Senna to turn bright red. Senna shook her head hard, vehemently denying this question.

"N-no! I-I came t-to talk to Captain Kurosaki!"

"Ichigo or Isshin?"

"Ichigo? I didn't know there were any other Kurosakis in Soul Society."

"Ah… Well, hold on. HEY, ICHIGO!!! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE!!" Yoruichi screamed, much to everyone's dismay. That was Yoruichi, though. All the subtlety of a mace. Ichigo came running as quickly as he could, but stopped short, sliding across the floor and crashing into the counter, grunting upon impact when he saw who was standing there. After a moment, he stood up and walked over to Senna, bending over and staring her in the face, cupping her chin and looking at her face from different angles as if to assure himself that she was real and not just a figment of his imagination.

"C-Captain Kurosaki…" Senna said nervously, gently pushing his hand down and looking away, having turned slightly pink. She bowed politely to him.

"I've been looking forward to seeing you again for a while, Captain Kurosaki. I've been in the human world for weeks, now, waiting for you to come here again."

"Wait… W-what? H-how do you know I'm a captain? What happened to you? You seem all… melancholy and subdued, now?"

"Oh, that. W-well, I suppose that I should explain myself. People who die aren't really supposed to just show up in front of you again, are they? Anyway, after I disappeared from the human world, I must have rematerialized in Hueco Mundo, because when I woke up, I was on a plane of desert that stretched as far as the eye could see. Only I wasn't in my human form anymore. Although I looked humanoid, I had the mask of a hollow, and for some reason, other hollows feared me and bowed to me as I walked through the desert, trying to find any indication that there were others around that shared a similar predicament to mine. After what seemed like forever, although I cannot say how long exactly, I came to a huge palace and I entered to find a man with a foxlike grin and striking lavender-silver hair sitting on a throne. He took out a strange orb and touched it to my forehead and put me back into my human form, except for a small piece of mask that was underneath my left eye. For a while, I served Ichimaru in his Arrancar army, until I got tired of him. Ironically, it was about the same time that Aizen returned. I attacked Ichimaru, creating a distraction and escaping as quickly as I could. I then passed Aizen on the way out. I knew immediately who he was because Ichimaru talked about him a lot. The two fought, and from what I felt with my pesquisa, Aizen won. So now Aizen rules the Arrancar again. Aizen is even more powerful than you believed him to be, Captain. He can't be taken down so easily."

"So, y-you're an Arrancar? Why did you come here then? I would think that you would be more comfortable among other Arrancar? Or is that a misconception?"

"Captain Kurosaki… I-I…"

"Just call me Ichigo. We've known each other for years, even if I didn't know that we knew each other."

"I-Ichigo…" Senna said, blushing slightly. "I-I came because… I wanted to talk to you… C-could I have a moment of your time, please?" she asked politely. Ichigo nodded and followed her outside. Secretly, Rukia, Yoruichi, Kisuke, Tessai, and Jinta followed them out toward the back, and poked their heads out so that they could listen. They didn't get to hear the entire conversation, but it started around…

"Ichigo, I-I've been looking forward to when I could see you again for a long time. I-I never expected that when I found you again, you would be a captain of Soul Society, but…"

"Hold on a second, Senna. I need to take care of something first…" Ichigo said bluntly, looking over at a rock, pretending not to notice the five of them over on the porch watching them. Then, he said, "Hadô 33! Soukatsui!" sending a blue fireball at the edge of the porch, blasting the five onlookers backwards into the shop.

"Next time I won't use such a low level spell, either!!" he shouted angrily. The five scurried away, shutting the screen door, and not listening in anymore.

"I think we're alone, now. Sorry about that," Ichigo said, still scowling, as he was used to doing. It was just his natural expression, now.

"I-it's alright. B-but… I escaped from Hueco Mundo and came to the human world so that I could see you again. I-I love you, Ichigo."

Ichigo gaped for a moment after he heard this. He hadn't even ever expected to see Senna again, let alone get a love confession from her. He was pretty involved with Rukia, though, and if one would have thought that a relationship between a human and a Shinigami was impossible, what would one consider a relationship between a Shinigami and a Hollow? Unthinkable? Yeah, something along those lines.

"S-Senna… I-I appreciate the gesture, and I truly do consider you a friend, but… I-I'm sort of already involved with someone else right now," Ichigo said, trying to think of a way to say what he wanted to say without hurting her feelings.

"I-it's Rukia, isn't it?" Senna said, looking up at the moon. It was a full moon that night, and it shone brightly in the sky, illuminating the earth below, casting its white glow over the ground.

"H-how did you know?" Ichigo asked, confused.

"I-it was pretty obvious. When we first met, you two were always together. And she's everything that I can never be. She's strong, and confident, and beautiful… and…"

"Senna… You are all of those things. Have you ever heard the saying that when life closes the door, it opens a window?"

"N-no."

"Well, it means that when one opportunity seems to go away, there will always be other opportunities that will present themselves… if you are open to new possibilities."

"I-I think I understand what you're saying."

"Alright. Let's go inside, then. It's cold out here."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Karin, Toshiro, Ichigo, Rukia, and Senna all walked down the street toward the Kurosaki Clinic. Though it was quite late, Ichigo was sure that someone would still be up, given that Karin had not yet returned home. The five of them were talking somewhat animatedly when Ichigo felt a disturbance up in the sky. There was a spiritual pressure unlike any he had ever felt before. The sheer power and menace in it was overwhelming. For a moment, none of them could actually see anything, save for a rippling effect high above the skyline of Karakura Town. However, after a moment, a circular hole opened in the sky and a tall, pale Arrancar with turquoise hair and golden eyes stepped out, looking down at them icily.

For several long moments, the Hollow just stood there, staring them down. But then in the next moment, he was right in front of them, slashing at them with claw-like fingernails. Ichigo reacted the fastest, shoving Toshiro out of the way, grabbing Rukia and Karin and jumping, while Senna blocked his attack with her arm. Her hierro was incredibly tough, tougher than most hollows could ever dream of having. Despite that, though, the theretofore nameless Arrancar still rent her arm wide open, spilling a great deal of blood on his clothes and on the ground. He looked disdainfully at his sleeve and shook it, spattering blood all over Senna's face and clothes and then held his hand up, pushing the air in front of him so hard that it blasted Senna backwards.

"Foolish girl! For an Arrancar you are incredibly weak. I doubt you would last three minutes against me," he said arrogantly, snorting in disgust and staring at the rest of the now scattered forces. Ichigo's gigai was already on the ground, apparently dead, along with Rukia's and Toshiro's. Almost immediately after the Arrancar said that, Ichigo slashed at him with his bankai, using a Getsuga Tensho to try to at least do some damage. Ichigo already could tell that there was little chance that he would be able to match this abomination. But he had to at least try to do some damage. When the smoke cleared, though, the strange Arrancar stood there without a scratch on him. He turned around, and breathed in deeply, then exhaled sharply, using the blast of air to send Ichigo flying into a building over a hundred feet away. He sighed and then turned around, looking at Toshiro, then at Senna, who was in her Arrancar form, now, but nursing a significant wound, and at Rukia, who had her blade out, ready to fight. His eyes stopped on Rukia, and then he bowed mockingly.

"I would recognize those features, and that scent anywhere. You are a member of the illustrious Kuchiki Clan…" he said in a heavy Spanish accent, looking at Rukia and narrowing his gaze.

"If indeed you are one of them, I must be sure to take this group seriously. But tell me. Is the orange haired man who just attacked me the renowned new captain who supposedly killed Sosuke Aizen?"

"Why should I tell you anything, Arrancar!?" Rukia snarled at the turquoise haired Arrancar that stood before her placidly, questioning her as though nothing had happened.

"Well, you certainly will have a better chance of living if you answer my questions honestly. And please, call me Arturo. My name is Arturo Plateado," he said, bowing politely and with genuine sincerity this time.

"Y-you mean _the_ Arturo Plateado!?" Rukia asked in abject terror, her eyes widening and her body being overcome with violent tremors.

"The one and only. I am honored that one so young as you has heard of me. I must have made quite an impression on Soul Society."

"Indeed. If I recall correctly, Commander-General Yamamoto sealed you away in an inescapable prison dimension over 1,000 years ago," Rukia said, smirking at him.

"Ah, yes. The Commander. He was a memorable opponent, and the prison dimension was extremely strong, but not inescapable by any means. You see, I really must thank your orange haired friend, for it was he who set in motion the events that freed me from my thousand year stasis. Two years ago, young Kurosaki, only fifteen at the time, entered Soul Society illegally and interrupted your execution, correct? He then proceeded to destroy the Sokyoku. Did you really think that an artifact that powerful would just disappear into thin air after it was destroyed? Of course not. It shattered into one hundred shards… Would the siblings Kurosaki please step forward? If you allow me to kill you peaceably, I promise not to harm your friends."

"How 'bout this, shitface!?" Ichigo asked, drawing his blade again and pointing it at Arturo. The Arrancar looked around, slightly surprised at Ichigo's boldness. He had known very few people to ever stand up to him like that. "You can have my life when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers."

"Very well. Then I shall fight you. Don't you want to know what my reason is for killing you and your younger sister, though?" Arturo asked, slightly interested in why Ichigo had not asked.

"Something tells me that it has something to do with these shards that you were talking about."

"Very perceptive, Captain Kurosaki. Indeed, both you and your sister possess shards of the former Sokyoku. Neither of you have yet learned to harness their power. However, that is a problem that I will not have. If I am correct, Captain Kurosaki has four shards, and young Karin Kurosaki has two. I have already collected six of the shards, and once I have collected all of them, I will be unstoppable. Goodbye, _former_ Captain Kurosaki."

With that, Arturo attacked, slashing at Ichigo with his fingers like he did to Senna. Ichigo easily blocked it with his forearm, though, grabbing onto Arturo's arm and throwing him over his shoulder and into the air and then aiming a Bala at him. The hardened ball of Spirit Energy flew at Arturo and hit him dead on, exploding massively in the air in a cloud of smoke and crackling electricity. For a moment, Ichigo was sure that he had gotten him, but then Arturo blew all of the smoke away with a kick in the air. He cracked his neck and then came back down, smirking.

"That was clever, Kurosaki Ichigo. But not good enough to defeat me. If that is all that you have, I am afraid your death is imminent." Arturo wasted no more time on words, instead, used his own nails to cut his hand open. He then grew a huge black ball of energy in his hand. It was a Gran Rey Cero. Ichigo knew that there was no way that any of the others could survive such an attack. He was fairly sure that he could live through it. But if he didn't do anything about it, it would still hurt a lot. Ichigo stood, waiting for the attack, and after a moment, it came. A gigantic black beam of energy unlike anything Ichigo had seen in his life or his afterlife flew at him, and then he realized, that he had once learned from Nel how she ate Cero beams. It turned out that it wasn't just one of her hollow abilities. She had developed it by practicing breaking down spirit energy as it came at her and ingesting it like one would food. Ichigo focused and grabbed the Cero as it hit him, slowly breaking down the particles and drawing them in through his fingertips. He figured that eating them and drawing them in was pretty much the same thing. It was dangerous, he knew. But it was likely the only way that he could possibly hope to defeat this beast of an Arrancar.

Arturo looked on in shock as Ichigo slowly broke down the Gran Rey and it disappeared into his body. Once he was done, his body was glowing like a black light from the inside. He then thrust out his right hand and cut it, adding his own Gran Rey Cero to Arturo's. The ball of black light shimmered and radiated out, causing the air all around Ichigo to become distorted from the sheer pressure of the Cero that was about to be fired. Ichigo felt a white hot burning sensation running through his body, but as soon as he felt it building up, it receded with the beam being fired and engulfing Arturo completely.

When the beam subsided, Arturo stood there still, bleeding heavily, his breathing having become ragged. He glared at Ichigo hatefully and spat blood at him.

"You've not seen the last of me, Ichigo Kurosaki. You and your friends will never be safe…" he said, distracting Ichigo with a false attack and then using the same technique that he had at first to appear in front of Senna at that moment. He then drove his hand right through her stomach, causing Senna to gasp in agony. Arturo looked at her pitilessly, and used his own power to break down her spirit particles, causing her to be absorbed into Arturo. Ichigo watched helplessly as Senna was absorbed, and Arturo's wounds began to seal. Arturo smirked back at Ichigo, and spoke.

"I see. This Arrancar actually means something to you. I am surprised. I had heard that you were a sentimental fool, but I never expected you would sympathize with a Hollow. But I didn't kill her just for the fun of it, or out of revenge. You see, when I kill another Hollow and absorb their essence, any injuries that I may have heal almost instantly. But, for now, I had better leave, before you decide to attack me again. After all, it seems that you have finally learned to harness the power of your shards. Perhaps the Cero that coursed through your body in that instant activated their latent energies. I couldn't say for sure. Goodbye."

And with that, Arturo disappeared as if he was a ghost… Oh wait, he was a ghost. As soon as he was gone, though, Ichigo groaned and collapsed, having used up too much spirit energy. Karin was the first one to reach him. She grabbed him by the arm and flipped him over, feeling for a pulse, relieved to find that he was simply unconscious.

Toshiro walked over to Ichigo and knelt down, bending at his knees and hoisting Ichigo off the ground and putting him over his shoulder. Ichigo was much larger than Toshiro, so it was a little bit difficult for him to carry him, but not overly so. It was not so much that Ichigo was heavy, as it was that he was unwieldy. The group that now consisted of four started to once more walk back to Kurosaki Clinic. Once they got there, Karin knocked on the door, though she wasn't sure why she didn't just take the key and walk in. The four of them waited for a little while, after which time, they heard running from inside the house, and a crashing sound as Isshin slid across the floor and crashed into the dinner table, losing his footing and being flipped over the table. They then heard another crash as he landed on the floor on his back, hitting his head, and knocking himself unconscious. Toshiro looked skeptically at Karin and said, "Does this happen often?"

"More than you might think, actually…" she said, slapping her forehead in embarrassment and frustration. Almost at the exact same moment, Yuzu came to the door to greet everyone. They had all slipped back into their gigais, so she could see them, fortunately. She smiled politely and invited them all in, saying that Toshiro could put Ichigo on the couch, although she only referred to Ichigo as 'your friend'. Ichigo had indeed gone to the clinic last time, but he only introduced himself as a work associate of Toshiro's out of concern that saying his name would trigger Yuzu's memories. He could have made up a fake name, but despite her airheaded appearance, Yuzu was pretty bright, and she probably wouldn't have been fooled for long.

"So, Hitsugaya-san…" Yuzu said politely, going out to the kitchen and stepping over Isshin to get to the stove to put some tea on. "Are you and Karin-chan like… dating or something?" she asked. Yeah. Perhaps she was a little bit too perceptive for her own good.

"You wouldn't understand our connection to each other even if we explained it, Miss Kurosaki," he said placidly, his expression not wavering for a moment as he put Ichigo on the couch. Yuzu tried to keep up her smile, but found it difficult when Toshiro was being so impolite. When she was sure that the tea was doing alright, she looked at Toshiro, and scowled at him momentarily. "You know, I'm not stupid, Hitsugaya-san. I don't really appreciate being treated as if I am, either."

"Huh? Oh, that isn't what I was trying to say. I just mean that my relationship to Karin, and to everyone else here is rather convoluted, and would be difficult to explain," Toshiro said, not really wanting to involve Yuzu any more than she had to be involved.

"I don't mind long stories…" Yuzu said suspiciously, looking between Karin and Toshiro, and then at Ichigo on the couch and Rukia in the doorway.

"Um, miss? Please, come in and have a seat. The tea is almost ready!" Yuzu said politely to Rukia, who bowed respectfully, looking around uncomfortably and then walked in and sat down at the kitchen table.

"Well, I suppose since everyone else in the room is in on it to some degree, I might as well tell you, too. Let's wait until the tea is done, though, because once I start, I'm not stopping." Toshiro said, his face still not twitching even a little bit. Yuzu nodded and took the water off just as it boiled and poured it into four cups, putting sugar in all of them and some tea leaves. She then handed out the cups and asked that everyone sit down. When they were all seated, Toshiro began.

"Well, the first thing that you should know is that of everyone in this house, only you and Karin are human. The rest of us, even your father, are Shinigami, souls that came at one point from the human world, to the Soul Society, and were trained to fight and destroy Hollows, malevolent spirits of the dead. That said, the events that brought us all here today ultimately began two years ago. The person on the couch was your brother, and Kuchiki was here on assignment to destroy a Hollow. She was wounded badly by the Hollow, and couldn't complete her mission, so she gave her powers to Ichigo, who then became a Shinigami in her place. The events between then don't really matter that much until a man we believed to be our ally betrayed us and aligned himself with the Hollows. As a Shinigami, Ichigo helped us fight in the war against him, and we believed that Ichigo killed him. Shortly after that man's apparent death, Ichigo was taken from the human world, and most of the people who knew him, including you and Karin had their memories of him erased. After all, it would seem rather strange for someone to just disappear without a trace. Anyway, for the past two years, Ichigo has been a captain in Soul Society, and, up until recently, nothing challenged our beliefs about what happened, until more Arrancar, Hollows that have had their masks removed, attacked the human world. The Arrancar said that the man that we believed to be following Aizen's lead, Aizen was the man who betrayed us, had actually been manipulating Aizen from behind the scenes. We didn't much question this, either, until we found out recently that Aizen has returned. Now, we aren't exactly sure how he did it. Perhaps he was revived through some form of ancient magic. Maybe he never really died. But he's back, and more powerful than ever."

"H-how does this have anything to do with Karin-chan?"

"Well, Karin has known about us for a while. We erased her memories just like everyone else's when Ichigo left, but she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and her memories returned to her. It has been known to happen that a person who's had their memory modified can remember what was erased if they are given a strong enough prompt."

"S-so, you're saying that… that person over on the couch is my brother?"

"Yeah. The unoccupied room upstairs used to be his." Toshiro said, his expression softening slightly upon seeing her confused expression.

"It's alright. You don't really have to understand it all."

"No, I do understand it. That's what's so strange. It all makes sense to me, for some reason. Even though the logical part of my brain is telling me that all of this is impossible, I know despite that that this is all real."

"KARIN-CHAN!!!" Came a loud yell from the floor. None of them had been paying attention to Isshin, who was on the floor the whole time. He suddenly jumped up and ran over to Karin, jumping over the table. Karin sighed, though, and pushed him along under his feet, grabbing his hand and throwing him backwards into the wall so that he hit it upside down and fell backwards, sliding onto the floor.

"Is that any way to greet your daughter who was in a major car accident!!??" Karin shouted, waking Ichigo up, who had been stirring on the couch for a few minutes by then. He stood and stretched, groaning and walking out to the kitchen, not even fully realizing where he was.

"I'm sorry, honey! I was just so worried about my baby girl…" Isshin said pleadingly. Karin sighed and hugged her father. He could be annoying, but she couldn't stay angry at him for long. He then looked around her and saw Toshiro sitting there and Ichigo and Rukia standing up.

"What are you doing, Karin-chan!? You bring these two delinquents home with you after you've been gone for two days!? Daddy is so disappointed! Look at them! This one isn't even much older than you, and already he's bleaching his hair, and that one is at least three years older than you, and you let him bring his younger girlfriend, too!? WHY DOES MY BELOVED DAUGHTER DO THIS TO ME!!??" Isshin cried dramatically. Ichigo had to suppress a major urge to beat the crap out of his father. He knew that his father was faking it so that Yuzu wouldn't get suspicious, but he was overdoing it.

"Um, Dad?" Yuzu said quietly. "You don't have to pretend anymore. I already know who all of these people really are."

"What!? You mean they told you about it? Captain Hitsugaya… I'm surprised. I would think a straight-laced guy like you wouldn't break protocol like that. And Ichigo… I'm shocked that you would want her to know your real identity."

"I had nothing to do with that. I was unconscious thanks to some damn Arrancar named Arthur Plato or something like that…" Ichigo said irately. Isshin's eyes suddenly widened at the name.

"Arturo Plateado!? Where did you run into him!? How long ago!?" Isshin asked loudly, shaking Ichigo violently for answers.

"Get off of me! It was probably an hour ago or something like halfway between Urahara Shoten and the Clinic. Why? Who the hell is he?"

"Ichigo, Miss Kuchiki, Captain Hitsugaya… Come with me for a moment. Yuzu and Karin, stay here."

"What's this all about, Dad!? Who is Arturo Plateado?" Ichigo prodded. Isshin sighed and brought out a file on him from an old chest in the basement that Ichigo never even knew his father had.

"All Shinigami and Hollows are measured in terms of power on a chart. Most Shinigami captains have a chart like this that is magically altered to add a name every time a new Shinigami graduates from the Academy. In your case, it was slightly different, since you never went through the Academy. However, the list also changes when a Shinigami moves up in power. Unlike other Shinigami, who can be fooled into believing someone weaker than they really are if they are good enough at hiding their spiritual energy, this list cannot be fooled by any means. Most Shinigami believe that powerful Hollows are given bounties based on how many Shinigami they have killed, and how long they have evaded Shinigami intervention. This is only indirectly correct. When a Hollow kills a Shinigami, the Hollow devours that Shinigami and becomes more powerful. If the Shinigami that was killed was powerful enough, the Hollow might move up on the power list, and their bounty might rise. If you want to think of it being a scale of 1-1000… 1 being the weakest, and 1000 being the strongest, Aizen, being a good measurement tool, is about a 600. Ichigo, you are about a 600 as well. It was partially luck that you were able to defeat Aizen, and though he didn't hold back powerwise, he had more than enough experience that if he had taken you as a serious threat, you would have been killed. Strangely, Aizen came back, and took over Hueco Mundo again. Now, this whole story does have a point. Commander-General Yamamoto Genryusai is about a 650, most likely, whereas last time I remember seeing Arturo, he was about an 800. He was powerful enough that he would have been able to kill Genryusai. The Commander, though, along with the Kidô Corps managed to place a powerful seal on him that trapped him in a prison dimension where neither light nor darkness exists. I felt his power return tonight. I was hoping that it wasn't true, but apparently it is. What happened Ichigo?"

"Well, we fought for a while, he fired a Gran Rey Cero, and I managed to break down the spirit particles and absorb it, then double its power with a Gran Rey of my own. He was injured, so he retreated."

"You were lucky. His escape probably cost him some energy. You won't get such a chance again, and I wouldn't advise trying such a stunt again. It's dangerous under the best of circumstances. Arturo must have done something to increase his power enough to break the seal. Did he say anything to you?"

"He said something about the Sokyoku breaking into shards when I destroyed it two years ago, and that the shards made him more powerful. He said that he was going around _collecting_ shards, and that both Karin and I had some in us."

"I see. I thought that your spirit energy felt more imposing tonight. You would do well to be careful with the power granted by that. I've seen people go mad with power. Always remember that power is dangerous. It can swallow you up and destroy you. Karin-chan awakened her latent spirit powers tonight, didn't she? I could feel them." Isshin said, half sad, half proud.

"Yes, she did. It was surprising to me, too." Toshiro said quietly, looking away.

"You're going to try to convince her to go back to the Soul Society with you and become a Shinigami, aren't you?" he asked again. Toshiro looked at him. Even though he acted like an idiot at times, that all really was just a façade. Isshin was incredibly perceptive and intelligent.

"I made the offer to her. It's up to her whether she accepts it or not. I cannot, nor will I force her."

"Ichigo, Rukia… Why don't you go upstairs? You can spend the night here if you like, and then travel back to Soul Society in the morning. There is something I must discuss with Captain Hitsugaya."

"Okay. Goodnight then, Dad."

"Goodnight, Dr. Kurosaki…" Rukia said, bowing politely and going back up the stairs. Once the door was shut, Isshin looked at Toshiro.

"I'm sorry about Lieutenant Hinamori's death. It's always hard to lose someone close to us. So hard in fact that we often try to find someone or something to fill the empty space in our lives. I can't tell you what to do with your sadness, but know that I'll not have Karin-chan become a replacement for your friend." Isshin said seriously and somewhat bluntly.

"I could never ask her to be that. Momo was truly irreplaceable. Besides the connection that I felt with Momo was completely different from the one that I feel with Karin."

"Fair enough. You're welcome to spend the night. I know that you're on vacation right now, so I don't know what you plan to do tomorrow, but as long as you don't break anything, you're free to stay."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

"Hello, Arturo Plateado…" Aizen said with an amused grin on his face. He had never met Arturo personally in the past. The incident in Soul Society with him was long before Aizen's time. However, he had heard many stories, and was interested to see that the Arrancar had found a way to escape his stasis prison. Aizen looked around his throne room, noting that all of his former Espada were dead, huge splashes of blood all over the room the only proof that they had ever been there. Arturo hadn't really needed to absorb them. He wasn't wounded even once fighting them. However, if he absorbed a powerful Hollow for reasons other than self-regeneration, he would become more powerful, slowly building himself up to the level of power that he once held. The shards that he possessed were indeed powerful. However, even he had not learned to fully harness their power. He had more borrowed the power from the shards for a one time escape plan. Since then, he had not figured out how he could fully harness their power. In fact, he was rather jealous that Ichigo had harnessed his just by absorbing his Cero beam. As it was, the shards were making him a little bit more powerful, but not enough to make a significant difference.

"So, you come to my palace, raze my structures, annihilate my soldiers, and then you stand here like nothing is wrong. What is it that you have come here to do?" Aizen asked, his smile wavering for a moment as he looked Arturo in the eye, seeing the icy glare that he was receiving back. Slowly, but surely, though, Arturo bent his right knee and knelt, holding his sword out in front of him, tip down in the traditional show of submission.

"I have come…" Arturo said, bowing his head, mostly to conceal his true motives that hid just behind his eyes. "To kill you…" he whispered, flickering out of sight and appearing right behind Aizen, having swung his sword in a graceful and long arc in order to decapitate the former Shinigami. When he got there, though, he found that the only thing that he had decapitated was the back of Aizen's throne. Aizen was standing in front of Arturo, and used a Kidô to hit him at point blank range. Arturo easily dodged, though, teleporting up into the air and using Sonido to cross the throne room. He then landed gracefully, using Sonido again to take Aizen's side by surprise and slash at him with his energy sword, which grew right out of his hand.

Aizen just barely managed to escape from this attack, but he did take some damage. He noticed when he finished his Shunpo that his side was cut, and his robes were stained red with blood. The brown haired ex-captain smirked at Arturo and drew his sword, and released it right when he was sure that Arturo was looking at it. Aizen then disappeared and took Arturo's back, slashing at him, but the Arrancar had already thought two steps ahead, and was up above Aizen. He twisted around in midair, and did a powerful kick to Aizen's face that sent him staggering backwards. After a moment, Aizen managed to regain his footing, but he was shocked.

"How? You watched me release my sword!" Aizen said, his smile a thing of the past. His face was now contorted with anger and concentration, for he knew that he couldn't win this with simple tricks and illusions, now.

"I may have watched it. But watching it doesn't ensnare me in it. Can you say with certainty that I actually _saw_ your release?" Arturo asked with a superior smirk. Aizen grimaced angrily.

"You _blinded_ yourself just so you could defeat me!?" Aizen asked in abject disbelief. He had known people to do crazy things when they were desperate, but never this crazy. He had seen Shinigami remove an arm, remove even an eye, but never fully blind themselves. It was truly ludicrous.

"Please! I have done nothing so crude. I have merely done what humans have been doing for at least twenty-five years."

"Contact lenses. You put contact lenses in your eyes that would make your eyes appear to be normal, but would prevent you from seeing while they were in. Very clever. However, your greatest asset, is also now your greatest weakness. Hadô 90: Kurohitsugi!" Aizen said coldly, watching from a distance as the black box of death enveloped Arturo and skewered him dozens of times. Before he could be satisfied at Arturo's defeat, though, he was forced to spin around and block Arturo's energy blade with his own sword.

"B-but how!? You can't see!"

"You are far too quick to assume, Sosuke Aizen. While it is true that my eyes are of no use to me, I can sense spirit energy, and a huge mass of spirit energy, such as the one that would build up when a high level, long range Kidô was about to be used, would be a dead giveaway as to where you were. Oh, and by the way, you aren't the only one who can use Kidô." Arturo said with a self-satisfied grin, as he teleported up into the air, activating a pair of wings so that he could hang there for a moment while he incanted his Kidô.

"Sinners run rampant. Darkness holds them just by their throats. Honor the vow to purge not with water but with fire for a new start. Hadô 95: Dawn of Megido." Arturo said, and immediately, the air around him lit up, and violet and red flames began to fall on the throne room below, incinerating everything that they hit. One of those things was Aizen, and he was killed almost immediately, turned to ash. There could be no coming back from that. Arturo put out the flames with one swift sweep of his wings, and then landed on the scorched floor. Aizen had been extremely powerful. He walked over to the man and put his hand on Aizen's face, absorbing the ex captain's spirit energy for himself. As he glowed, he took in a deep breath, and then exhaled. Finally, he had managed to absorb the Shards' power fully. He could feel his power increasing, and flowing through his veins like electricity. He only needed Ichigo's, and Karin's shards, now, and he would be unstoppable once again. Not even that fool, Yamamoto could beat him. He chuckled to himself as he put out a mental call to all Menos in Hueco Mundo to join him. He was going to lead the greatest army of Arrancar Soul Society had ever seen, and he would be utterly without equal. Destroying the Soul Society would be a simple matter, and destroying the human world even easier.

Of course, Arturo had known about Aizen all along, and his desire to transcend the limits of a Shinigami. He was the one who planted the idea in Aizen's head. He did it telepathically. Then, just to amuse himself, he did the same to Gin, and "suggested" that he "suggest" to Aizen what they should do. Therefore, all throughout their partnership, each of them believed themselves to be the other's superior when in fact both of them were merely pawns in an even larger conspiracy. Arturo knew that if he could cause enough havoc in Soul Society when Aizen, Gin, and anyone else stupid enough to go along with them defected Soul Society, that he, Arturo could potentially break free of his most hated prison, and loose himself on Soul Society once more. He never figured, though, that Aizen would go along so perfectly, and get the Ryoka to come to the Soul Society, and do all of the work for him. Then, in an even _more_ perfect move, the Ryoka known as Ichigo Kurosaki destroyed the Sokyoku, and its pieces were scattered hither and thither. Some of them were trapped in Ichigo's own body, and some of them went into his younger sister's body… go figure. But, some of them went exactly where Arturo had wanted them to, and he was the recipient of several, which allowed him to make a blast large enough to break through the seal of his stasis prison, and escape once more. Having done that, he went around discreetly, destroying people and Hollows that had shards, and taking them. Then he watched as Aizen was killed and Gin took over, then Aizen came back and killed Gin to once again rule Hueco Mundo. And all along, Aizen really believed that he was all powerful, that he was a god. If only Aizen had known just how insignificant he really was… Arturo laughed to himself. It was funny how arrogant and prideful Aizen had been, and in the end, it was his downfall. He believed that he couldn't be killed, and so, he didn't keep his guard up. And that was when Arturo struck.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Karin sighed, setting up her few belongings in her dorm room at the Shinigami Academy. She had decided after a week or so to travel back to the Soul Society with Toshiro and become a Shinigami. The Soul Society was an entirely different world from the human world. It looked like it was stuck in Edo Period Japan, although in the Seireitei, there was technology that would put human world machines to shame. It was exciting to see what the Soul Society might have to offer her. However, it was also a scary prospect. She had not yet talked to Ichigo about this, so he didn't even know that she was there. She was almost a little bit afraid to talk to him. What would he say, after all, when he found out that she had also given up her human life to become a Shinigami.

For over a week, now, she had been telling herself that she had decided to come to the Soul Society and become a Shinigami for her own purposes. Toshiro had fully explained what being a Shinigami meant. He explained that she would have to abide by the strict and even rigid hierarchy, and that the laws of the Soul Society, whether they seemed fair or not, were ultimately for a purpose even higher than Soul Society's own peace. Of course, he said, all of this would be explained in the Academy. He told her that the Academy wasn't just a place for her to learn how to fight, but also for her to learn the laws and customs of Soul Society, and to learn the history of Soul Society, and about the governmental system as well.

As a personal favor, Karin had requested that Toshiro not tell Ichigo about her being there. She wanted to tell him herself. She knew that he was a captain, and that as a mere Academy student, she probably wouldn't be high on the list of people that they would just let in to see him, regardless of their relationship to each other. Still, she would rather tell him herself than have him find out from a third party. Maybe it was just an issue of pride. Or maybe she wanted to be able to tell him her own reasons for doing it, as she was almost positive that he would ask her why she had chosen to abandon the human world. Of course, truth be told, it hadn't been that hard a decision. She didn't have that many friends, and the friends that she did have weren't that great. Momentarily, she thought about the three boys that she played soccer with. She didn't really feel all that close to any of them, and her sister was always the one who was able to make friends. Her teachers constantly wrote on her report card that she was very bright, but had difficulty making friends, and was temperamental on the best of days. She couldn't really deny any of those claims. But the same teachers that she had said almost the exact same thing about Ichigo when he was her age. So who was counting, anyway?

Karin looked at the bed on the other side of the dorm room. Was she supposed to have a roommate? She wasn't really too keen on the idea. But then again, what was the worst that could happen? Sure, the girl could be a bitch, but Karin had always managed to deal with people like that in the past. She'd just do what she always did when faced with someone she didn't like. She'd put them in their place. She snickered at the possibilities with her new powers. Unfortunately, she did this just as the girl who was fated to be her roommate walked in.

"Hey. You must be…" The girl said dully, and monotonously, staring down at the piece of paper in her hand. She was a good deal taller than Karin, and had long, spiky red hair and one golden eye. Her right eye had probably once also been golden, but was now a dull, milky shade of yellow, like she was blind in that eye, and she had burn marks and scars all over the right side of her face. The hairline on the right side of her head had receded where the burn went up her forehead and ended in three jagged claw-like marks at the end. Where the hairline started there, her hair was frizzy, and didn't look like it could be combed down no matter how much gel she put in it.

"Karin Kurosaki?" she asked, looking back up at Karin, her one good eye not betraying even a hint of emotion.

"Um… Y-yeah… A-and your name is?" Karin asked, trying to smile. It was difficult, though, with the girl staring at her through her one good eye.

"Arika Fujikawa…" she said quietly, as though she was only half paying attention. Immediately after introducing herself, she put her bag down at the foot of her bed and sat on it, staring out the window at the people passing by below on the streets of the Seireitei. Karin didn't have long to talk, not that Arika seemed all that interested in talking, anyhow. Karin bowed politely to Arika, who just stared back at her as she left the room.

As Karin walked through the twisting and winding streets of Seireitei, she found herself getting more and more lost. She didn't think it possible for anything to be quite so confusing. The Seireitei was apparently larger than she had originally thought. She looked around her to see if she could find any sign as to where she was. However, everything looked the same, no matter where she turned. It all looked like Edo period Japan in the Seireitei, and the streets didn't seem to go in straight lines like they had in Karakura Town. She tried to use her ability to sense spiritual pressure to find Ichigo, but found that this too was useless. He must have been masking his spiritual pressure, which couldn't have been an easy task. She never ceased to be amazed by Ichigo. In the three short years that he had been a Shinigami, he had gone from a makeshift Shinigami with borrowed powers to the second most powerful captain in Soul Society, second only to Yamamoto himself. Karin had a sense of foreboding, though. It felt like very soon, even with all the power that Ichigo had, it wouldn't be enough. Especially with that new guy, Arturo Plateado on the loose, Karin was sure that he was going to need to become more powerful. It was like Arturo had been on a level all his own.

That was when it hit Karin. Perhaps if she could see the entire Seireitei, then she could search more easily for Ichigo. There were only two places in the Seireitei in which one could watch the entirety of the Soul Society. One was Sokyoku Hill, and the other was the top of the Tower of Penitence. Karin had never been fond of high places. It was one of the few things that she feared. Back in the human world, she had even refused to go up on the roof of her school at lunch. She figured that if she wanted to find Ichigo, though, that she didn't really have much of a choice. So, she jumped up onto the roof of one of the buildings, and pushed off again, running as fast as she could toward Sokyoku Hill.

Being able to move so fast was exhilarating. It almost made her forget that she was jumping between rooftops. The whole time, though, she had to be careful not to look down. Otherwise, she might find herself throwing up instead of running. Once or twice, she nearly slipped and fell off the roof, but she always gained her footing again. Thus, it was quite a surprise when one of the shingles on the roof cracked under her foot, and broke off, leaving her to slide down the roof, barely able to stay standing, until she flew off, hitting her head hard on the roof as she fell backwards and plummeted toward the ground, already unconscious and bleeding from her head. After what seemed like hours, there was a hard *THUD*, and Karin landed. Unfortunately, she landed on Byakuya Kuchiki, most likely the sternest captain in Soul Society.

Byakuya sighed and looked around, despite the fact that he was still flat on his face. He then pushed himself up into a kneeling position, causing Karin to roll off of him and hit the ground behind him. Byakuya looked at Renji, who was trying his hardest to keep a straight face, but doing a terrible job. The stern captain's gaze narrowed, as he brushed himself off and looked at his scarf, which was worth more than twenty houses, most likely, and noticed that it had blood on it. Looking away for a moment, and then turning around to see the unconscious Karin at his feet, he looked back up without looking at Renji and asked, "Renji? Has it lately become common for bleeding female Academy students to fall from the sky?"

"Well, not as far as I know, sir…" Renji said in confusion, looking at Karin, trying to remember where he had seen her before. She seemed ridiculously familiar to him. Then, it hit him, just like the girl had hit Byakuya.

"I know this girl, Captain Kuchiki…" Renji said, kneeling down to look at Karin. Byakuya looked at Renji, raising an eyebrow.

"Really, Renji? I wasn't aware you liked your women so young…" he said as a bit of a joke. As he finished, Renji sputtered and shook his head wildly, waving his hands in front of his face.

"Th-that isn't what I meant, sir! I-I meant… Th-this is Captain Kurosaki's sister!" Renji said, picking Karin up, and turning her face so that Byakuya could see it.

"Is she, now? I suppose I do see the family resemblance, now that I see her," he said with slight interest, as he leaned in, and stared at her. "Isn't Kurosaki's sister a 'normal' human?" Byakuya asked, continuing to inquire into how she could possibly be in Soul Society.

"Well, I thought so. But, Captain Hitsugaya reported a few years ago that she was able to see him in his soul form. Perhaps she had latent spiritual powers that awakened?"

"This whole situation reeks of Kurosaki! Wasn't it he who awoke those other two humans' powers?" Byakuya asked suspiciously, his eyes narrowing to a cold glare. Renji backed away slightly, nervous at the stare that he was now receiving from his captain.

"Um… Y-yes, sir. But… I don't think that Captain Kurosaki ever wanted his family to become involved in his spiritual affairs." Renji said, being rather more astute than he usually was. Byakuya looked at him with an eyebrow raised. He had never been that good at dealing with children. Rukia had always been the kind, and gentle one, but she was off on a mission in the human world, so for the moment, he and Renji would have to handle it.

"Renji… What should we do with her?" Byakuya asked stiffly, pulling her over to rest against a wall. He began to panic slightly, though, when she stirred, her eyelids fluttering slightly, though she didn't seem quite awake yet. Byakuya looked around nervously, having no idea what to do with a child, let alone an injured one. Was he supposed to treat her wound? Did she even know who he was? He highly doubted it. After all, she had never really been to Soul Society before, and he had only been to the human world once in her lifetime. After all, captains rarely went to the human world, and Byakuya had no desire to do so. The one time that he did go, he was bitterly disappointed by the way things looked there. There was no elegance to the design of the buildings, and everything had been plastered over by concrete and metal. It was quite ugly, unlike the old fashioned buildings and the brick streets of the Seireitei. To be fair, though, the human world was much more heavily populated than Soul Society, and much smaller to be sure. With 320 districts surrounding the Seireitei, and the Seireitei in the center, the Soul Society was very large, indeed. Of course, nobody really knew just how big Soul Society really was, since hardly anybody ever ventured outside of the 320 districts, and nobody who did ever survived to tell the tale, lending much credence to the tall tales that there were high level hollows in the forests beyond the 320 districts.

But back to the issue at hand. Byakuya had no idea of what to do with Ichigo's sister. He looked at Renji again, who shrugged, was silent for a moment, and then said, "Why don't we take her to Captain Kurosaki? Wouldn't that seem the most logical thing to do? After all, he hasn't mentioned that his sister was here. That leads me to believe that he doesn't yet know about her. Suddenly, Karin's eyes shot open, and she sat up fully, looking around her, not noticing at first the two Shinigami before her, talking to each other. Once she started to stand, though, Byakuya turned around and scowled at her questioningly.

"You… fell on top of me, Miss Kurosaki…" He said stiffly. Karin looked around, seeing that there wasn't anyone else around her. Then she looked at Byakuya, who looked like he was waiting for a response. He seemed an impatient person. She stood up quickly and bowed in apology. Byakuya was a very imposing person. He was tall, powerful looking, and had a humorless stare. Even Karin, who was not scared easily, was intimidated slightly by him.

"S-sorry, captain… I-I was looking for Ichi-nii," Karin said nervously, shuffling her feet without even noticing. Behind Byakuya, Renji snickered at Ichigo's nickname. He never pictured Ichigo as an _Ichi-nii_. Byakuya looked back at Renji for a moment and scowled, though.

"You're headed in the wrong direction, Miss Kurosaki…" he said coldly, still staring hard at her. He continued to do this until she looked away in discomfort.

"I-I know, captain. I-I was trying to get to the top of that mountain there so I could see everything."

"We will take you to your brother's office. If he has any work ethic whatsoever, that is where he will be right now."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

"You know, Fujimaru, you can take a break, now. You've been working for hours, already. I just have a few more papers to finish up…" Ichigo said, his usual scowl gone, replaced by a rather neutral expression. Kudo gave an exaggerated sigh, probably in relief and wiped his forehead.

"WHEW!! 's'about time, too, Cap'n! How _do_ you do all this work!! You must be… like… a paperwork _god_ or somethin'!" he said sarcastically, laughing loudly at his own joke, rather distracting Ichigo from his own paperwork. All throughout the morning, Kudo had been working at a rather sluggish pace, and it showed, now, since he still had half the stack that he had been given when he started. He was the newly appointed lieutenant of Squad 5. At first, he had refused the position, but the other lieutenants managed to convince him. They had told Ichigo that he was a good worker if you could actually get him to work, but that it was hard to get him to start, and he rarely, if ever, took initiative on that kind of thing. Ichigo had groaned at that. Kudo sounded a lot like Kisuke in that respect, intelligent and capable, but lazy and laid back.

Kudo stood and grinned at Ichigo, saying that he would bring back some food for him, too. However, Ichigo knew that if there was one thing that Kudo liked, it was food, and that he would probably eat it all on the way back. He didn't really care, though. He wasn't that hungry in the first place, and he figured that he could finish faster if he didn't have to watch Kudo fiddling around with his pen while he was supposed to be working.

Just as Kudo stepped out of the Fifth Squad building, he ran into Byakuya, who looked down at him as if he was something in between a cockroach and mouse, neither of which Byakuya liked, by the way. Kudo smiled placatingly and bowed politely to Byakuya, stepping back a few paces before speaking.

"Good morning, Captain Kuchiki, Lieutenant Abarai…"

"Just call me Renji. We're both lieutenants, now, remember?" Renji said in slight irritation. Suddenly, Byakuya disappeared and the threesome heard a small racket before the tall, imposing captain reappeared, holding a small, wiry boy by the back of his gi. The boy had black hair that was parted down the middle, and pale purple eyes, and looked rather weak. Byakuya knew who he was immediately.

"Hanataro Yamada…" he said coldly, dropping him on the ground unceremoniously, waiting for him to stand up, which he did immediately, though he did it somewhat clumsily.

"Y-yes, Captain K-Kuchiki?" Hanataro asked nervously, shaking violently in his sandals just from standing in front of him.

"Why have you been following us?" Byakuya asked, looking around to see if there were any others.

"W-what do you mean?" Hanataro asked innocently, though his charade didn't fool Byakuya.

"You've been tailing us since shortly after Miss Kurosaki joined us. So I ask you, what do you want?"

"Captain Kuchiki!" Karin protested. "You're scaring him. Just let him go! He isn't going to follow us again, and he wasn't hurting anyone, so why do you care, anyhow!?"

"It's considered extremely bad manners in Soul Society to attempt to follow someone without making your intentions clear, Miss Kurosaki. A first year Academy student knows that. But apparently you are very like your elder brother in that you put little stock in obeying common courtesy," Byakuya said coldly. Karin usually didn't mind people who were being jerks. She could generally ignore that. But one thing that she wasn't going to take was someone insulting her family.

"How dare you insult Ichi-nii! He's a better and stronger person than you could hope to be if you lived to be a thousand years old! Just because he doesn't blindly follow the rules simply because they are the rules doesn't make him any less of a good person! I can't believe people have allowed you to talk down to them like this for so long!! You must be at least 28 years old, and yet you act with all the courtesy of a snot nosed eight year old!!" Karin shouted, her face becoming slightly red from not having taken a breath between her words. Byakuya just stood there for a moment, eyes wide, mouth agape. Never had anyone ever talked to him like that. Even if he gave her the benefit of the doubt about not knowing that he was of the noble Kuchiki family, she was still being extraordinarily rude.

"Yamada! Get out of my sight and never follow me again! Miss Kurosaki, perhaps once you enter the Academy, you'll learn better manners. Here is your brother's office. I suggest that you watch your tongue next time we meet," he said coldly, before adding a harsh, "come, Renji!", and striding away. As he left, Karin stuck her tongue out at him and gesticulated rudely at him behind his back. Once he was gone, Kudo laughed hysterically.

"Miss Kurosaki, do you have _any_ idea who you just told off!?" he asked, hardly able to keep his voice straight.

"Yeah! The biggest ass in Soul Society!" Karin snapped, glaring at him, too.

"That was Captain Byakuya Kuchiki, head of the noble Kuchiki Clan."

"I don't give a shit if he's God! Nothing gives him the right to treat people like that! If anything, his status gives him _more_ responsibility to act in a respectful manner!"

"Miss Kurosaki…" Kudo said, chuckling slightly to himself. He may have been a lazy person by nature, but he wasn't stupid, and he knew that even though in a perfect world, people in high places would all be just as kind and humble as the commoners, it just wasn't the way that things worked.

"You're quite good at motivational speaking, and you're idealistic. It's not uncommon for people your age to be idealistic, and I don't want to disillusion you, but it would be even worse if you were disciplined for such talk. The social order in the human world is somewhat different than the social order in the Soul Society, and it's been our custom for over two millennia, and it's unlikely to change just because you say that it should. Now, you wanted to see your brother, right?"

"Y-yeah… I-I guess, if he isn't t-too busy…" Karin said, disheartened at Kudo's speech. Back when she was a human, she had always believed that if she tried hard enough, and spoke loudly enough, that she could force change. Perhaps Soul Society was just a more stubborn place with more rigid laws and customs.

"I'm positive that he has time for you, Miss Kurosaki…" Kudo said with a smile. He didn't like the social order any more than Karin did. However, he had seen what happened to people who tried to fight it, and he figured he would rather see Karin depressed for a little while than see her arrested as a "dangerous element". Byakuya technically had every right to make note of Karin's outburst. Kudo was fairly sure that he wouldn't… this time. But he, Kudo, had to try to dissuade Karin from attempting such a thing again.

"P-please… call me Karin…" Karin said quietly, looking away for a moment to gather herself before seeing Ichigo. She didn't need him worrying about her when he saw her, so she wasn't going to let him see her upset. She followed Kudo inside and through the hallway. It was an incredible building, albeit with a rather Spartan design inside. Ichigo had always been like that. Even his room was very simple. It only had a bed, a chair and a desk with a few essential items like a lamp and paper. Anything he didn't need, he would keep neatly in his closet, like spare mattresses, which was how Rukia got to sleeping in his closet… Karin laughed at the thought of Rukia not only sleeping in the same room as Ichigo, but sleeping in his closet.

Finally, she turned the corner by his office and walked in, only to find him in his office, making out with Rukia. The two of them looked up, just as shocked as Kudo and Karin were. For a moment, the four of them just stood there, Ichigo and Rukia still pressed up against each other, and Karin and Kudo staring, mouths agape. After a moment, though, Rukia shoved Ichigo off of her, and straightened her robes, bowing to Kudo, and smiling politely at Karin as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. All the while, Ichigo was still too stunned to say anything. Not only had he not expected his lieutenant to come back at all, let alone so soon, he also didn't expect his sister to even be in Soul Society at all, let alone wearing the traditional female Academy robes and standing in his office.

After Karin managed to get her breath back, Rukia punched Ichigo hard in the side, as only she would ever do to him, snapping him out of his shock induced stupor. Ichigo groaned. There was no way to explain what the two of them just saw Rukia and him doing. Was it even worth it to try? Probably not. He could only ask that they not say anything about it. After all, it was perfectly reasonable, once he was done with his work, to think that nobody would come in to bother him, at least not without knocking. Karin was the first to speak. She smirked at Ichigo, and said, "I always had a feeling there was something going on between you two." To this, all Ichigo could manage was a pathetic bow, and a weak, "please don't tell Byakuya…"

Suddenly, Karin did a double take. She stared at Rukia for a moment, and then thought back to Captain Kuchiki. They did look remarkably similar… Almost similar enough for Byakuya to be Rukia's father or something like that.

"Wait! You mean that asshole is your _father_!!??" Karin screamed, much to Rukia, Ichigo, and Kudo's shock. Rukia sighed.

"Nii-sama isn't an asshole. He's just… A little bit harsh sometimes," Rukia said, assuming that Byakuya had said something to upset Karin.

"A _little_ bit!? He practically made that Yamada kid wet his pants!" she cried, waving her arms angrily.

"How did you manage to run into Byakuya _and_ Hanataro?"

"He said that Hanataro was following us… Th-that's not the point, though!!" Karin complained, her arms still swinging wildly. After a moment, Rukia and Kudo both bowed and walked out of the room, saying goodbye to both Ichigo and Karin.

"Beyond all that, what are you doing here, Karin? Don't you have school or something?" Ichigo asked, holding Karin's arms firmly but not hard, and kneeling down so he could look her in the eye.

"Of course not. Today is Sunday. And besides, I start the Shinigami Academy on Monday. I already passed the test to get in."

"But… why? You'd need two Shinigami without Hell Butterflies to even get into or out of Soul Society safely. Who brought you here? When did they bring you?"

"Toshiro and Rukia brought me over yesterday after I told them that I wanted to learn more about my powers."

"Why? I never wanted this life for you! I started being a Shinigami out of necessity. You guys were in trouble, and I borrowed Rukia's powers so that I could save your lives. It happened to grow on me, but you're only twelve! I was fifteen when I started. That's a big age difference!" Ichigo said, letting go of Karin and pacing the room. He had heard Toshiro offer to help Karin become a Shinigami, but Ichigo never expected her to agree. If he had expected that, he would have asked Toshiro not to. It wasn't that he didn't trust Karin, or that he didn't think that she could do it. Ichigo just thought that she would have a happier life as a human.

"It's only three years!!" Karin said angrily, hurt that Ichigo wasn't accepting her decision. She refused to cry in front of him, though. Even though she was angry, she wasn't going to let him know just how hurt she was. She knew that she was old enough to make her own decisions. It didn't matter what Ichigo thought, anyhow.

"Karin, that's a fourth of your entire lifetime."

"That isn't that much!! Besides, you can't tell me what to do!! You may be a captain, but you can't force me to leave!"

"Karin, I'm not going to _force_ you to do anything. If you really think that this is what you want, then far be it from me to stop you. I just wish you had told me before you decided on your own. Now, it's 5:00. Perhaps we should get some dinner. You haven't eaten yet, have you?" Ichigo asked with a smile, standing up, and taking Karin's hand. For a moment, Karin hesitated, but it was so brief that Ichigo almost didn't notice, and even though he did, he didn't dwell on it. Karin walked out of the Fifth Squad building after Ichigo. Maybe it would be nice to have dinner with Ichigo. After all, they hadn't really just talked in a long time… at least two years. She missed talking to Ichigo. With him gone from her life, everything seemed kind of empty and boring. Sure, she was still great at sports, and all of the sports clubs at school wanted her to join them. She had never taken martial arts before Ichigo left, but after he did, she strangely became interested, and she had been doing really well at karate. She had gone to the same place that Ichigo did, and she joined the martial arts club, where she could practice more. For some reason, all she wanted to do was throw herself into the martial arts.

With her new powers, she could have become a master in no time at human martial arts really quickly. Somehow, that notion just didn't make her happy anymore, though. She had continued with the martial arts and soccer for two or three weeks after she got her powers, and they were so boring. She could have easily scored five times as many goals on her own if she hadn't been holding back so much, and in sparring, she kept having to remind herself that the other person couldn't keep up with her if she worked too hard at it. Normally, that would be a good problem to have, but for Karin, she just found it depressing to realize that she could be up there with the greatest athletes in the world, and she was stuck with the nobodies in her tiny city on her tiny corner of the world. That was the main reason that she wanted to become a Shinigami. She wanted to go somewhere where she could really stretch her powers to their limits, where she wasn't at the top of everything. In fact, in the human world, the only thing that she wasn't the best at was purely mental things, like school, and memorizing.

Even though she was very smart, she wasn't very well inclined toward school, so she slacked in it, leading her to get mediocre grades at best. So, in a way, it was good that she was leaving the human world behind. She would have had to quit school after middle school, since her grades wouldn't be good enough to get into high school. So, she really had nothing to lose by joining the Shinigami Academy. Another reason that she joined the Academy, although she wouldn't say it aloud, was because she wanted to be around Toshiro. A third reason, going along those lines, was because she wanted to spend more time with Ichigo, too. She knew that both Ichigo and Toshiro were very busy with their captain's duties. She felt that maybe she would be able to get to know Toshiro better in her time in Soul Society.

Suddenly, she realized that she was walking a good deal ahead of Ichigo. She stopped and looked back to see Ichigo just standing there. He looked around in the setting sun for a moment and then smirked, looking to the right of him and calling out to an invisible person.

"Alright, Hanatarô, Tsubokura-san, you can come out, now. I know that you're hiding back there."

"Ah, C-Captain Kurosaki…" Rin said timidly, standing up and wiggling his fingers nervously. Suddenly, he lost his footing, and slid down the roof, landing on his back on the brick street. Hanataro jumped down after him, and knelt down, offering his hand. Rin blushed nervously in Ichigo's, Karin's, and Hanataro's presence, having just made a complete fool of himself in front of all of them.

"What are you two doing here?" Karin asked exasperatedly, slapping her forehead. Hanataro looked at her nervously, then looked back at Ichigo, whose trademark scowl had found its way back onto his face. "Wasn't Captain Kuchiki's warning enough!? You almost get massacred by Captain Kuchiki, and now you're following us again!?"

"Wait. Again? Hanataro was following you before now as well?" Ichigo asked, arching an eyebrow, somewhat annoyed by this distraction.

"Yes, Captain Kurosaki… Y-you see, Rin and I had heard that a girl named Kurosaki had joined the Academy, and we were trying to find out if she was related to you…" Hanataro said shakily. Ichigo rolled his eyes and nodded.

"Well, yes. Karin is my sister…" Ichigo said suspiciously.

"You know…" Karin said, checking her wrist, but realizing that she didn't have a watch anymore, "You could've just asked me…"

"See! I told you we should have just asked her! Captain Kurosaki only _looks_ scary," Hanataro said, a little bit louder than he had intended to. Rin looked at Karin nervously, and then put his head in and said, "Yeah, but his sister looks kind of scary, too…!" in a loud whisper, much to Ichigo's and Karin's annoyance. Ichigo didn't say anything, but Karin growled and started yelling. "What do you two dimwits want!? I've already answered your damn question!! Now get lost!!" she screamed, causing several people in the area to look up in alarm. Rin had already taken the hint and run, but Hanataro was still there, looking to the left and the right to try to find Rin. Unfortunately, he had already made it out of sight. Hanataro used Shunpo then to escape. He wasn't great at it, but he could manage to get the short distance that he would need to go. Once he was gone, Ichigo laughed and looked at Karin for a moment before saying anything.

"Alright, well… I think we should still have time for dinner." And with that, he took Karin to dinner, and they talked for a while as they had not done in a long time.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Arturo sat on the throne that belonged once to Aizen Sosuke. Before him, it had belonged to Ichimaru Gin. Before that, it had belonged to Aizen Sosuke again. Before Aizen, an exceptionally powerful Hollow named Luisenbarn Barragan controlled Las Noches. Before him, though, civil war raged in Hueco Mundo, and even in the halls of Las Noches between the most powerful Hollows that the bleak desert world had to offer.

Granted, Aizen was the first steady power to grace Hueco Mundo, but even under his rule, there were those who would have been glad to overthrow him, were they given the chance. Unfortunately, many Hollows, in spite of their natural proclivities, were indebted and grateful to him for making them more powerful, and giving them something, or someone to fight for. Although Aizen never asked outright for the Hollows' trust, many gave him their trust implicitly, believing that under him, they could be free of the Shinigami whose sole purpose was to destroy them.

Unlike Aizen, Arturo Plateado was not very charismatic and charming. Rather than choosing to finesse his way into power, he forced his way by killing Aizen and taking the throne by force. The few Arrancar that had been left alive after the one man invasion now served Arturo unquestioningly, knowing that he was now the quickest route to power. When he took his seat upon the throne, he had given the Arrancar two choices. They could leave, and eke out their own meager existence in the desert of Hueco Mundo, or they could serve him, and become greater than they could have ever hoped to be otherwise. Arturo could now make Arrancar whose power rivaled that of the greatest of Shinigami, and would be second only to his own power, which, he had finally fully activated. Mere days before, he had figured out how to harness the power of the shards of the Sokyoku, and now his power was up around 950. After all, he had taken the shards from Aizen, who had taken them from Gin when he was killed over the throne.

Arturo wasn't satisfied, though. He knew that he could be more powerful, even. He needed the shards from the siblings Kurosaki. It would be hard to get to them, since he very much doubted that any of his current subordinates could possibly hope to defeat the captain, and going to do it himself would be incredibly risky. He didn't make the claim that he was immortal. His greatest strength, in fact, was his greatest vulnerability. His power, though immense, was unstable at the moment. The shards, which had been inert for two years, had finally reactivated in a sense, and they were not finished increasing his power. So, until his power increased fully, which would take at least a month, he was stuck in Hueco Mundo, defending himself with barriers and guards who he knew were blindly loyal 24/7. It was a pathetic existence, but it was one that he was willing to accept for the time being.

"Captain Kurosaki…" Kisuke began, his usual goofy grin completely absent from his face, replaced by a look of melancholy so deep that it threatened to suck everything in around it. Ichigo looked curiously at Kisuke, and then said, "For once in your life, just call me Ichigo. We've been friends long enough…"

"I appreciate the sentiment, Kurosaki, but I don't deserve your friendship. I've created more trouble for you and for your generation of Shinigami than Aizen could have in a million years, and I can feel it… an ominous wind, a chill prophecy is upon us. Things are only about to get worse, Kurosaki, and there is little that you can do about it… It isn't for lack of trying that you would fail, Kurosaki. In the time that I've known you, you have managed to pull things off that I never would have expected from even the most brilliant of Shinigami, let alone a human. For the past two years, I have constantly forced you to overextend yourself to clean up my mess, and today that ends. Kurosaki, did you know that there is a way to transfer the spiritual powers of one Shinigami to another Shinigami?"

"Well, no… I can't say that I did know that," Ichigo said suspiciously, raising an eyebrow at Urahara's strange question.

"I'm not surprised. It's dangerous… Incredibly so. The receiving party is put at great risk, and there is always the chance that he or she will be destroyed. As for the party 'donating' the powers, they invariably die."

"What are you talking about!? Rukia gave me her powers, and she didn't die!"

"That was different. You were a human, and were unable to subsume her soul fully. Therefore, you merely stripped her of her powers, and her soul was left unharmed… relatively speaking. However, when powers are being transferred from one Shinigami to another, the receiving party gets such a power boost, that they literally overpower the soul giving them the power, and the former Shinigami's soul is in essence taken over by the receiving party's soul. This means that the receiving party gains all of the memories, knowledge, and experience of the donating party, and on occasion, a few personality quirks."

"What about the donating party's Zanpakuto?" Ichigo asked.

"Well, it vanishes. The Zanpakuto is the physical representation of a Shinigami's soul. If the Shinigami dies, so does the Zanpakuto. However, I've long since outlived my usefulness, and, Kurosaki, the world needs Shinigami like you now more than ever. That's why I'm transferring my powers to you. Yoruichi, Tessai, please continue to look after the shop. I'm rather fond of this place, you know?" Kisuke said, smiling sadly at Yoruichi, Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu, who all looked back at him, shocked by what he was saying.

"Kisuke! You can't do this!! Your knowledge is still vital to the world's survival!" Yoruichi protested. Kisuke sighed and shook his head.

"I'm passing my knowledge, everything, onto Kurosaki…"

"I refuse. I won't allow you to kill yourself that easily," Ichigo said coldly. "If you have a problem, you need to work it out. I won't help you commit suicide under such ridiculous pretenses."

"Kurosaki. You aren't getting two things. One, this isn't pretense. Everything that I have said is true. Second, I am not giving you a choice. Tessai, hold him back. Sorry, Kurosaki. You may hate me for this, but it's for the best. Besides, I never said that both parties have to be willing." Kisuke said, grabbing Ichigo's right hand with his own left hand and taking out his sword. He then released it, and drove it straight through Ichigo's heart. Suddenly, Kisuke started glowing brightly. Then, little by little, the glowing in Kisuke ceased, and it traveled through Benihime into Ichigo, who began to glow just as brightly as Kisuke had, only in black instead of white. As this happened, Kisuke's body began to shrivel, and his sword began to diminish in size until there was nothing left of either of them, and what used to be Kisuke's body fell to the ground, nothing more than a pile of dust. After a moment, Tessai let go of Ichigo, and Ichigo rubbed his right arm, which had been grabbed rather roughly by the veritable giant of a man.

Instantly turning around, Ichigo glared at Tessai, who backed away slightly, much to Ichigo's surprise. It was then that he realized what had happened. The power that he had been given by Kisuke had not only increased his power by itself, but it had fully awoken the power of the shards in him. Ichigo wasn't entirely sure what this would mean for him, and Kisuke had never elaborated on what he meant by a "bad omen". He trusted Kisuke, though, and figured that all that he could do was to continue training, and prepare for whatever was about to come their way. It was almost like Kisuke had once again intentionally left them in the dark. Or perhaps he just didn't want to admit himself how bad the situation was. If that was the case, then indeed, it was a bad thing.

On his way out, Ichigo felt a familiar feeling in the air. It was a Hollow. This one was extraordinarily powerful, though… more so than any of the Hollows that he had ever fought before in his time as a Shinigami. This one was far more powerful than Aizen, even. Ichigo looked around for a moment and then disappeared. It was time to fight once more. Ichigo had come to hate fighting. It was tedious, draining and disheartening. Unfortunately, it had to be done, and no matter how much he hated his duties, they wouldn't likely come to an end anytime soon, given the power of this new enemy. Ichigo had a feeling that he may have known who the enemy that Kisuke was talking about was. It could only be Arturo Plateado. If not him, after all, then who was powerful enough to be a threat to Soul Society all by him or herself? It seemed ludicrous that any being, even a Hollow as ancient as Arturo could be that powerful. Of course, Ichigo had felt the power of the Sokyoku firsthand, and knew that it was extremely powerful. If someone, say Arturo, were to harness its full power, they would indeed be nigh unstoppable, and Soul Society, nay, the entirety of existence would be doomed, ruled over by a mad Hollow for eternity with no chance for salvation.

Ichigo continued to home in on the Hollow's signal, knowing that it was only a matter of time before it began to destroy the city in its search for spiritual energy. After all, that was what Hollows did. They ate the souls of the living and of Shinigami alike. Rukia had once told him that it was to ease their suffering, and perhaps this was true, but for a Hollow of this much power, it had probably come to enjoy devouring souls. The mere thought made Ichigo sick to his stomach. True, he had just subsumed Kisuke's soul. That was for a higher purpose, though, so it was in a way justifiable. Ichigo may not have felt good about it, but he wasn't going to lose sleep over it, either. Besides, he was starting to recover some of Kisuke's memories, and as such, he knew a lot of strange things, like Kido that he had never learned before, and attack maneuvers that he never would have thought of using. Perhaps it was for the best, after all that Kisuke gave up his soul to Ichigo.

Finally, Ichigo arrived on sight, and saw a youngish looking female Arrancar with the remaining piece of her Hollow mask, a long, sharp tooth, poking through her left ear. She looked down at Ichigo and released her footing, falling to the earth in a freefall, landing easily, bending her knees to minimize the force of impact, but still crushing the pavement beneath her.

"So, you're the infamous Captain Kurosaki of Fifth Squad, huh? Lord Arturo said that the last captain level that he fought was a real pushover. Some dipshit by the name Sosuke Aizen or something. He was a stupid old man. But you're actually kinda cute…" she said, smiling flirtatiously at him and standing up, walking toward him and trying to kiss him. Ichigo ducked around her, though, grabbing her by the back of her collar as she nearly fell over.

"_You're_ the Hollow that I felt earlier?!" Ichigo asked incredulously, looking at the girl, who didn't look like she could be any older than fourteen. Looks, of course, could be quite deceiving. But she didn't seem very serious about whatever it was that she was there to do, and she seemed more interested in fooling around.

"Uh huh…" she said seductively, batting her eyelashes and touching Ichigo gently on the lips with her index finger. "If you're nice to me, I might let you feel me a bit more, cutie… tee hee…" she said walking around him and draping her arms over his shoulders, resting her chin on the crook of his neck.

"Hey! Hey! Cut it out!!" Ichigo shouted, turning bright red at what she was doing. "What are you doing in the human world, anyhow!?" He asked irately, pushing her away from him and glaring.

"Oh, that's right!!!" she said cheerfully. "Lord Arturo would very much appreciate it if you would give him your younger sister," she said in a somewhat hyper tone as if it were the most natural thing in the world to ask for something like that.

"And if I refuse?" Ichigo asked suspiciously, glaring at her. She immediately disappeared, though, and then reappeared behind him, beginning to touch him again, and this time, she licked him behind the ear.

"Well, then sweetie…." She whispered throatily. "If you refuse my request, then I'm afraid I'll have to kill you. But you don't really want to fight, do you?" she asked, sticking out her lower lip pleadingly. "Besides…" she said with a devious grin. "If you cooperate with me, I'll let you do _anything_ you want to me…" It seemed that she would have continued had Ichigo not grabbed her by the arms and thrown her into a building a hundred feet away. As she got up, Ichigo took out Zangetsu and said rather coldly, "I'm already taken! Besides, nothing in the world could convince me to betray my own sister! Only the worst sort of scum would do something like that!"

With that, he used Shunpo to propel himself forward and slash at the Arrancar. She dodged his blade, though and jumped on top of it, putting her hand on Ichigo's head and launching herself into the air, landing on the ground behind him and using her left hand to help push off of his back. Even though she was an Arrancar, she didn't seem to have a Zanpakuto anywhere on her. She giggled as she spun around Ichigo and tried to push him over. She put her hand firmly on his chest and used Sonido to move forward, shoving him into a brick wall. She then grabbed his arm and flung him face first into the wall, and then back down onto the ground. None of her attacks hurt that much, but it seemed as though her attacks were making him extraordinarily tired. Then, it came to him. She didn't _need_ a Zanpakuto. Her body was her Zanpakuto. She wasn't touching him to flirt with him. She was inconspicuously draining him of his spirit energy all along. When she touched him, when she licked behind his ear, when she draped her arms over him. All of that was to drain him.

If that was true, then he was lucky that he escaped her kiss. Had he let her kiss him, he probably would have died immediately. At the moment, he still had enough spirit energy left to fight one like her if he did so from a distance. But close quarters fighting had been exactly what she wanted out of him all along. Ichigo used a shunpo to escape her range, and immediately followed suit with a powerful Cero beam from his right hand. After that, he went into Bankai and shot a Getsuga Tensho at her. Shortly after, though, she came out, apparently completely unharmed. She just giggled and dusted herself off.

"Man, that hurt! Didn't your mommy ever teach you not to hit a girl!? But, judging by the barrage of long distance attacks, it seems you've figured me out. It's true. I hate you as much as I hate any other Shinigami. I've killed several of you people like that. At least you weren't repulsive to look at, though. I'm glad of that. Anywho, I should probably get on to killing you. I was just hiding my Zanpakuto. Hunt, Artemisia!" she said with an evil smirk, and a black field of energy exploded around her. When she emerged from it, she had what looked like a white exoskeleton with gloves made of bone and tiny pinheads sticking out of the fingertips. On her other hand was a huge claw. She laughed wildly and went as if she was going to throw a ball at Ichigo with her left hand, but wires came out of her fingers and almost hit Ichigo. They would have, too, had he not flash stepped out of the way and immediately used a Byakurai on them. The Kido disoriented them momentarily, and they snapped back into place at her fingertips. This didn't dissuade her from attacking, though. She breathed in deeply and belched out a huge Cero that almost hit Ichigo dead on. It was too fast for him to evade entirely, but it still hit his right arm, damaging it severely. Ichigo switched Zangetsu to his left arm, his right hanging limply at his side. Breathing heavily, he started to incant a Kido for use on the Arrancar. It was becoming more trouble than he had expected. He wasn't used to fighting opponents like this, and he was finding it exceedingly difficult to do.

"Inquisition. Clouds of blood. 40 years of darkness in the starry black sky. Form thy sword and mold thy shield and take up arms against thine enemy. Hado 90: Kurohitsugi!" Ichigo said icily, watching as the black box of death formed around the female Arrancar and huge spikes skewered her while she was inside. Ichigo heard her shriek in agony as the blades went right through her, and then dissipated. She glared hatefully at Ichigo as the box disappeared, and used Sonido to attack him. She swung the wires every which way, attempting to get him by any means possible. He dodged each attack, though, with ease. She had slowed down considerably, and the Kurohitsugi hadn't helped her at all. Plus, in her rage, she was being reckless with her power and her attacks, leaving plenty of openings for Ichigo to dodge in and out. Soon after, Ichigo got right in front of her and slashed right through her neck, doing a Kuro Getsuga Tensho at the same time, disintegrating her body.

The battle had been more wearing than he had expected it to be. And yet, he felt satisfied for some reason. As he fell to the earth, he smiled, thinking only about how he was going to explain his injuries to Rukia. She would most certainly scold him for being so reckless and jumping into a fight without analyzing his enemy's powers first. Then he would explain that she had been using them even before the battle started, and Rukia would ask him what that was supposed to mean, and there would be a whole long argument about not being careless like that in the first place, and didn't Ichigo think it was odd that she was being so clingy, and blah, blah, blah. So, he would just have to think up a suitable lie, or keep his mouth shut to begin with. That was a novel concept. Of course, Rukia seemed to have a way of drawing the truth out of him whether he wanted to tell it or not. That was one of the things that he hated about her… But also one of the things that he loved most. Maybe she wouldn't yell at him. There was always a chance, right?


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

"Oh, my… Ichigo… You do seem to have a way of getting yourself injured. What happened this time?" Captain Unohana asked with a small laugh. It seemed like whenever she saw Ichigo, he was hurt or on his way to do something that would probably get him hurt. She had seen him so many times in the medical station that she was about ready to put a bed on permanent reserve for him.

"Huh? H-how did you know I was awake, Captain Unohana?" Ichigo asked, puzzled.

"Just intuition, I suppose. And please, we're both captains. Feel free to call me Retsu…" Unohana said with a polite smile. Ichigo smiled nervously.

"Um… D-do I have to?" he asked. Perhaps some would have seen it as a rude question, but Unohana just smiled and shook her head. "No, I suppose you don't have to… You know, you were lucky that Miss Inoue was here. Without her, we would have had to amputate your right arm. It was a real mess. What did you do to it?" she asked, the smile gone from her face, replaced by a serious look.

"I'm not sure. I was dodging a Cero beam, and… It wasn't like most. Instead of blasting my arm, it felt like it crushed it."

"I see. I analyzed the composition of the spirit particles surrounding the arm, and sent the results to Mayuri. He should have a field day with these results. You've had several guests while you were asleep. Miss Kuchiki and Miss Kurosaki came. And as I'm sure you are already aware, Miss Inoue is working for me now. Oh, how is Kisuke doing? I know that you initially went to the human world to see him."

"Oh… H-he… died…" Ichigo said sadly. He hadn't thought much about Kisuke since it happened, and of course, why would he have. He had been unconscious. Nonetheless, though, the idea that Kisuke was truly dead was hard to swallow.

"Oh, dear. That's terrible. He was such a nice person. I do hope that he passed on his knowledge to someone. He knew more than…"

"I _do_ hope that you weren't about to say Kurotsuchi, Captain Unohana…" came a creepy, seething voice. Ichigo sat up and looked at Mayuri coldly. He had never liked the man much. He was weird and really cruel to his subordinates.

"Of course not, Mayuri…" Unohana said, but with a touch of sarcasm that wasn't lost on the creepy captain.

"Regardless, Captain Unohana, if Captain Kurosaki is quite healed, I would like to have a private word with him."

"Now, now, Mayuri. You know that interrogations are not allowed in the convalescent unit."

"Oh goodness, no!" Mayuri said facetiously, grinning evilly. "I merely wish to have a little chat with the young captain."

"You must really believe me a fool, mustn't you, Mayuri? I suggest you leave, before I am forced to chase you out…" Unohana said, adopting a ghoulish grin that would even make a crazed Hollow head for the high hills. Kurotsuchi sneered in disgust and nodded, skulking out with Nemu in tow. Almost as soon as the two of them left, Karin and Rukia ran in together, staring concernedly at Ichigo. Rukia ran over to Ichigo's bed and kissed him, ignoring everyone else in the room. Then, as Ichigo had expected, she punched him in the face.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!? You probably went into that fight with no idea what you were doing! You were probably going off half-cocked the whole way, and won by sheer dumb luck! Do you have ANY idea how worried I was when I heard that your ARM had been crushed!!" Rukia screamed hysterically, tears flooding her eyes. "What if Orihime wasn't here!? What if they really did have to cut off your arm!? What would you do then, huh!?"

By the time, Rukia had finished her rant, everyone in the room had left already, except for Karin, who was still standing there, staring at Ichigo. Sometimes, she wished that he had never become a Shinigami in the first place. She knew that he took pride in his "career choice", but she was constantly worried for him, and at the moment, she was feeling sick to her stomach.

"Ichigo, you probably think I'm being unreasonable. You probably think that I'm being overly emotional. But when you do things like this, you upset the people who love you. What about Karin? If you were killed by a Hollow, what would she do? Go back to being a normal middle school girl? But I shouldn't even bother, since I know that nothing I say is going to make you change, anyhow. This is just the way that you are, right? I shouldn't expect any better from you."

"Rukia… That isn't true. I was thinking in this battle. It just took me a little longer than it would have taken you. I'm just not as smart as people like you and Orihime. Fighting is one of the few things that I _am_ good at."

Rukia looked at Ichigo blankly for a moment, blinking a few times to clear her head. She hadn't expected an answer like that. He always seemed so self assured, so satisfied with his own way of doing things that she assumed that he didn't even consider any other way of doing it. Was it just insecurity on Ichigo's part, though? After a few seconds, Rukia sighed and smiled at Karin, walking out of Ichigo's room as quickly as she could without appearing to be rude. Ichigo watched her sadly as she left. Rukia didn't see his face, though. After a few moments of standing there, Karin went and sat down by Ichigo's bed, and dragged his arm out for her to see.

"I don't see a single mark on your arm…" Karin said with a laugh, although she wasn't all that happy. She could tell that Ichigo was hurt… Not physically. He didn't have a mark on his body. Orihime must have taken exceptional care of him. But Ichigo was hurt nonetheless.

"Did what Rukia say to you really upset you that much, Ichi-nii?" Karin asked, gripping his hand tightly.

"Huh?" Ichigo said quietly, almost in a whisper, looking around. "N-no. Of course not. She always says something along those lines after I get hurt in a battle…" Ichigo said. Karin could tell that he was lying, but she didn't pursue it.

"So, how is the Academy going?" Ichigo asked with a forced smile. Karin sighed.

"Half the students think you're some kind of supershinigami who beat an Arrancar that was twice as powerful as Aizen with your Gentei Kaijo still active and one hand tied behind your back. The rumors are spreading like wildfire…" Karin said, laughing weakly. Ichigo sighed.

"Well, I hate to disappoint them, but the Arrancar was only slightly more powerful than Aizen, and my arm wasn't tied, it was crushed. You can just tell your friends that I was just lucky. This Arrancar's powers were strange, though. She was unlike any Arrancar I've ever encountered. She didn't use her sword immediately, even though I'm a captain, and instead of attacking me, she tried… Never mind. She was an unarmed close range combatant who channeled Kidô-like power through her arms to drain me of spiritual energy. She didn't use her sword until it was an emergency, and her Cero wasn't a normal Cero. It was much faster, and instead of blasting, it compressed and crushed anything within its beam. The Arrancar are evolving again, and they have dangerous new powers that could be the end of us. This one's fighting style reminded me of Ms. Yoruichi's."

"That is strange. You need to tell the Commander-General about this. He'll want to know."

"No. Didn't you hear? Kurotsuchi is analyzing the data from my battle. He'll be able to tell them more than I could," Ichigo said resolutely. Kurotsuchi wanted to talk to him, anyhow, and Ichigo was sure that he knew what it was about. Kurotsuchi had once worked under Urahara, as his research assistant, and when Urahara defected, Kurotsuchi took over. But Kurotsuchi probably always had a bone to pick with Urahara after that.

Standing up, Ichigo found his gi and his captain's haori and put them on, disregarding Kiyone's protests to stay and rest for a while longer. He said goodbye to Karin and hugged her, then put his sandals on and walked out of the room. He knew his way around the medical facility pretty well. After all, he was a frequent flyer there, so to speak. Of course, he healed very fast due to the hollow powers that he had. Unfortunately, he couldn't re-grow limbs… at least not as far as he knew. He had never actually tried to do so, and he hoped that he never had to. As he walked out of the building, he noticed Karin following him, but chose to ignore her for the time. It wasn't critical. If she tried to follow him into the research facility, he would have to stop her. But otherwise, he didn't really care if she knew what he was doing. It wasn't like it was a secret. He had thus far been trying to suppress Kisuke's spiritual power until it merged fully with his own, and became indistinguishable. It might be a while before that happened, though, so he would have to be careful.

Carefully following Ichigo, making sure to stay out of his shadow and to make sure that her shadow wasn't visible to him, Karin watched intently as Ichigo made his way to wherever it was that he was going. After a while, she noticed a second spiritual pressure, although this one wasn't very strong. She looked over and saw the brown haired girl from the other day who had wanted to find out if she was Ichigo's sister. Karin raised an eyebrow at her and then spoke quietly.

"Listen, Miss Tsubokura, or whatever your name is. You gotta stop following me! It's getting irritating."

"W-well, Miss Kurosaki… I-I'm actually a boy, and I wasn't following you. I have to head back to the research and development division, and this is the fastest way to do it."

"You're a boy?" Karin asked, scowling at Rin and looking at the little ponytail that he had poking up from the front of his hair.

"I get that reaction a lot, actually… But yes. Apparently, the Divine Lord Kubo wanted to make me the third gayest looking character in the show," Rin said with an apologetic grin.

"Which two look gayer than you?" Karin asked, confused. She didn't think that any male character could possibly look gayer than him. He pretty much looked like a ten year old girl, especially with all the candy that was sticking out from every available pocket on his uniform.

"Well, number 1 is Charlotte Cuulhourne. He fought Mr. Ayasegawa in the winter war between the Arrancar and the Shinigami. Number two is Luppi. He was temporarily the sixth Espada after Grimmjow lost his arm after pissing off former captain Tossen. Grimmjow skewered him later in the series, though, and then blew up his upper body with a point blank Cero. And unfortunately, the Divine Lord Kubo made a few other rather homosexual looking characters. However, most of them can just be written off as just being naturally effeminate."

"I see. Who is this Divine Lord Kubo?" Karin asked, perplexed. She had never heard half the terms that this midget was using. She was getting the strongest urge to take one of his lollipops and smack him over the head with it.

"Oh! The Divine Lord Kubo is one to whom we must all bow, lest he become angered and punish us with increasingly lame lines and bad plot. He is a man greater than the great Kami-sama himself, for he has created all, knows, all, sees all, and chooses the personalities, nationalities, and sexualities for all!" Rin said reverently, getting down on one knee and bowing his head, saying a short prayer to Tite Kubo.

"W-wait! You mean, all of this is just a TV show?" Karin stammered, falling back, resting against the wall.

"Worse!" Rin said spookily, his eyes widening in abject horror. "It's a _fanfiction_! Right now, our every move is being watched by second rate writers who couldn't think of any of their own stories to write, so they fall back on already well established stories to allow themselves not to feel like _total_ failures at life. Most of them are just nerds and anime otakus, though, who don't have time for anything but manga, anime, and Dungeons & Dragons. But more importantly, do you know about John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln, Kaiser Wilhelm II, John Lennon?"

"Of course. They were some of the most famous men in history."

"They were all killed because they knew too much. There are all these wild conspiracy therories that their governments killed them because they were dangerous to the status quo. But it wasn't the government, and they weren't human assassins. They were viral plotlines disguised as humans, sent by Lord Kubo to get rid of people who would reveal the horrifying truth. But we mustn't let on that we know this, or the Divine Lord Kubo will find a way to kill us off. I've seen it happen before! You know Kisuke Urahara?"

"Of course. You mean the goofy old man with the candy shop?"

"The very same. He learned about the conspiracy about a hundred years ago. He was so brilliant that he managed to evade Lord Kubo's plothole assassins for a century. But recently, he was tricked into transferring his soul to Captain Kurosaki. Lord Kubo didn't want to resort to that, because now Captain Kurosaki may find out, depending on how quickly Urahara's soul is completely subsumed by Captain Kurosaki's. I've stayed alive by keeping quiet, but I sense the end for me is nigh. I'll take you to the R&D Department, but we shouldn't be seen together. I would never forgive myself if I were to allow a girl as beautiful and smart as you to die."

"Wait. I thought you said…"

"I said I _looked_ gay. I'm a background character. My existence is relatively insignificant to the story at large, so Lord Kubo figured that he'd make me an effeminate candy addict with no spine. But I can tell you, the place where you are least safe normally is the place where you are safest from Him. Where is the one place where _nobody_ would dare monitor you, no matter how insane or lecherous they were?"

"I think I know where you're talking about. Thanks…" Karin said, kissing Rin on the cheek and running ahead to continue to follow Ichigo.

"Um, Miss Kurosaki? You're going the wrong way. It's to the right."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

"So, Captain Kurosaki…" Kurotsuchi said, his lip twisting into a cold sneer. He looked irately at the monitors and then back at Ichigo.

"Yes, _Mayuri_?" Ichigo said, using Kurotsuchi's first name, which he knew the strange captain hated very much. However, he was finding it fun to piss the guy off.

"Ehh… You are so very much like _that man_… It makes one wonder just what happened in your time away. I had heard that Urahara Kisuke passed away lately. He was a great man, and could have been an asset to all of Soul Society had he not committed high treason and went ahead with those foul hollowfication experiments…" Kurotsuchi said, noting that he wasn't getting anything out of Ichigo from this, which only served to further annoy him. He was hoping to goad Ichigo into admitting that he had accepted Urahara's powers. While technically, the process was legal, especially since it happened because Urahara was supernaturally compelled to do so. That was beside the point, though. The point was that Kurotsuchi finally had a chance to get all of the secrets out of Urahara that he had wanted to get for so long, but would never admit to wanting. All he had to do was question Ichigo, and the great secrets that Urahara no doubt was privy to would be his.

"Now, Captain Kurosaki. I know that you don't take me for a fool. However, you should also know that I am quite adept at noticing even the slightest of changes in a person's spiritual energy. One hundred and thirteen years ago, I instantly knew that the 'Aizen' that was walking around Seireitei all that month was a fake. It was easy to see through the illusion once I ignored my five senses and felt his spiritual energy. So with that in mind, tell me what Urahara knows that he never told me. I was his research assistant for ten long years, so I know that he was keeping secrets from me. I won't report you for accepting his powers. I personally couldn't be happier. It gives me a new chance to find out what dark and dangerous things the one known as Kisuke Urahara knew."

"Perhaps, if they were so dark and dangerous, they were not meant to be discovered. Perhaps Urahara kept them a secret from you for a very good reason," Ichigo responded calmly, smiling slightly in that same annoying way that Urahara always did.

"Come now, Captain. I'm sure that there is a way that we could come to a reasonable solution. Every man wants something. So what is it that you want? Greater speed? Perhaps you'd like to be more adept at Kidô?" Kurotsuchi said, trying to sound persuasive.

"What I want cannot be bought, or created. It must be earned, and I don't deserve it…" Ichigo said distantly, not even paying attention to Kurotsuchi's ranting and raving. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Kurotsuchi stormed off and left Ichigo alone. Nemu stood behind for a moment and bowed in apology to Ichigo.

"I apologize for wasting your time, Captain Kurosaki…" She said softly, quickly turning on her heel and rushing after Kurotsuchi, who had already made it halfway through the laboratory by then. He looked down and saw Rin who had just gotten there, and was still breathing heavily from running. Kurotsuchi looked around. Everyone else was busy on the computers, but Rin had just gotten there, so Kurotsuch grabbed Rin's wrist and pulled him into a laboratory.

"Come, Rin. I need you as a lab assistant. Nemu! You come as well!!" Kurotsuchi shouted as Ichigo left and ran into Karin outside the R&D Department.

Ichigo sighed and walked back to his own office while Karin went back to the Academy dorms. Karin had finally gotten used to the streets, and could get through them without getting lost… usually. Once Ichigo got back to his office, he immediately trudged upstairs and into his bedroom and collapsed on his bed. He would have cried, but he was too miserable to cry, and he didn't want his lieutenant, Fujimaru Kudo to hear him. He would never live that down. So, he fell onto his bed, facedown in the pillow, not bothering to change into pajamas and fell asleep almost immediately. It was only 8:30, but Ichigo was tired as if he had been working for days without a break.

Once Karin was sure that Ichigo was asleep, she snuck into his room, moving slowly so that she would be sure not to wake him. Life was lonely without a family, and with only Arika for company, who wasn't very friendly or talkative, Karin was bored and lonely. Maybe this was what Ichigo meant when he said that he didn't want that life for her. But, whatever the outcome, she had chosen it, and she couldn't take it back now. Besides, she was enjoying learning more about her powers. It just got hard being alone all the time. And people in the school treated her differently because she was Ichigo's sister. It was like they expected her to be at the top in everything. She was good, too. There was no denying that she was exceptionally talented. But she wasn't the best. That honor went to Arika. She was amazing at everything. Her Kidô was off the charts, her hand-to-hand combat was incredible, her swordsmanship was nearly perfect, and she had already figured out how to do Shunpo. She wasn't that great at it, but she could do it. And that was way beyond what most students at her level were able to do.

Once Karin found herself near Ichigo again, she quickly fell asleep, propped up against the foot of the bed. That night, though, she had a strange dream. She dreamt that she was in a blasted wasteland where the skies above were cloudy and stormy, and lightning struck the ground quite often. She wandered around for what seemed like hours, although she couldn't discern hours from minutes from days. She knew that she wasn't getting hungry or tired like she normally would after a long time passed, but it could just be that time held no meaning in the world that she was in. Several times, she had to force herself to pay attention, lest she fall into a canyon that was created by the lightning striking the ground.

Finally, she made it to a cave, where she ran in to give herself respite from the dangerous weather outside. She sat down, propping herself up against a wall, and rested for a while. She found herself becoming extraordinarily sleepy, though, and soon, she started to doze. Before long, though, a grating voice awoke her. It crackled like thunder and forced her to cover her ears. It was speaking in a heavy accent, but she could still understand it.

"Kurosaki Karin… My name is Kurorai. I am your Zanpakuto. Call me…"

"F-flash… Kurorai!" Karin said loudly, causing Ichigo, who had been fast asleep to wake up as a dark light flashed in his room, and woke both he and Karin up. Ichigo fell out of his bed and on top of Karin, who poked her head out, and dragged herself from underneath him.

"Ouch. That hurt… M-my Zanpakuto! I finally got my Zanpakuto!!" Karin shouted gleefully. Ichigo rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock. It was just before 3:00 in the morning.

"That's great, Karin. But it's 3:00. There's a spare room here next door. You can take that for the night. Then you have to go back to the dorms in the morning."

Toshiro groaned as he filled out form after form of monotonous, and pointless paperwork. For a while, he had been feeling that this paperwork was neverending, and that someone out there was trying to kill him with paperwork. However, it was one of the few times that Rangiku was actually doing her work, so maybe it was a good time to talk to her. He had been awfully mean to her after he got Hinamori's body, and he still hadn't apologized to her. She may have had a few strange personality quirks, and a propensity for drinking. She was his lieutenant, though. And he needed to get along well with her. She was one of the few people that were willing to be friends with someone as unfriendly as he.

"Matsumoto…" Toshiro said sternly, although he didn't mean to. He just naturally spoke that way. He always had, and he suspected that he always would, no matter how hard he tried to stop.

"Yes, captain?" Rangiku asked curiously. He almost never interrupted while they were filling out paperwork. He usually just did his work while she did hers until she managed to sneak out.

"Do you remember when Ichimaru sent Momo's body here? I-I said some things to you that I regret saying…"

"Are you… apologizing, captain?" Rangiku asked, her face blank with surprise. He had never apologized for anything before. Of course, he was usually at least cordial with her, so he rarely had anything that he needed to apologize for.

"I-I… Um… Y-yes…" Toshiro said hesitantly. Rangiku grinned widely and pulled Toshiro into a tight hug, nearly suffocating him in her boobs. After a moment, she noticed Toshiro's face turning blue, and she let him go, and watched as he fell to the floor, gasping for breath.

"Matsumoto! Those things are freakin' lethal weapons!!" he said, still breathing heavily, gripping his chest. Rangiku smiled apologetically and sighed.

"Sorry about that, captain. I'll be more careful next time."

"Not a problem. I'm not dead… But could you excuse me for a little while? There's someone that I'd like to go see," Toshiro said, looking away, and turning slightly pink. Rangiku grinned and laughed hysterically before explaining herself.

"It's Captain Kurosaki's younger sister, isn't it?" Toshiro looked at her, deeply surprised. He didn't think that anybody knew about them meeting, even Ichigo. He was sure that Karin wouldn't tell anyone. After all, it would probably be looked down upon for a captain to be hanging out with an Academy student. He hadn't asked her out yet, but he was planning to… soon. He was nervous about it, not because it would look bad. He was established enough that his reputation wouldn't be damaged that much by such a thing. It was that he was afraid that she would say no… That she would scorn him, or laugh at him. That would be really humiliating. He was supposed to be a genius. To misread something like that would be just downright degrading.

"You haven't asked her out yet, have you?" Rangiku asked, smirking, and chuckling at Toshiro's naivete. It was funny to watch how surprised he was that she knew all this. She been around before, though, so even though she seemed like a bit of a bimbo, she knew what she was talking about.

"N-no, I haven't, Matsumoto… What makes you think I see her as anything more than a friend?" Toshiro asked, even though he knew that he was just denying the obvious.

"Please. You wouldn't skip out on work to see someone who was just a friend. You're far too responsible for that. But you should ask her out soon, or someone else might. She's very pretty, after all, and she's intelligent and strong as well. Lots of guys would kill to have a girl like that. And some of them might not be as much of a gentleman as you, captain…" Rangiku said with a sly grin. Toshiro turned bright red at what Rangiku was implying, and gulped, nodding.

"Yes… I-I see your point…" he said stiffly, walking out of the office and using Shunpo to disappear.

On his way to Sokyoku Hill, he thought about what Rangiku had said. Maybe it did have some validity. Perhaps he should ask her out before someone else did it. But he wasn't sure if she liked him. It was a sticky situation. He was sure that if he asked her out, and she said no, that their friendship would be affected. After all, there was no way that it wouldn't be. But on the other hand, if he didn't ask her, he would never know what she was thinking, unless he read her mind, which was extraordinarily rude according to Shinigami rules of etiquette, unless you were in battle, and trying to predict the opponent's next move. He would never do such a thing to a friend, though. It was beyond rude, and he would deserve to be strung up if he did something like that.

As he approached Sokyoku Hill, he flash stepped up the steps that wound their way around the hill itself. Two years ago, the entire hill had been damaged severely in the battle between Byakuya and Ichigo. Amaszingly, Ichigo used an attack with his Zanpakuto that almost split the hill in half, sending the smaller half crashing to the ground. Fortunately, the Kidô Corps managed to fix it later, and nothing happened to it. Of course, the Sokyoku itself was permanently destroyed. It had been created by the Kami-sama with ancient magic that even the Commander General didn't fully understand. Needless to say, they needed to figure out a different way to execute criminals afterward. They had not needed to use it lately, but inevitably, they would need to.

Finally, he got to the top, and saw Karin waiting for him at the top. She looked up and upon seeing him, smiled, standing and walking over to him and hugging him, an unusual gesture for her. She wasn't usually the type to be so demonstrably affectionate. That was usually more Yuzu's modus operandi. But whenever she was around Toshiro, she felt strange. It was like he made had the ability to acutely affect her mood. She knew that sometimes, he could be a little bit surly, but he was a really nice person, and whenever she was with him, she felt like she wanted to be more open that she normally would. Toshiro blushed at Karin's touch and hugged her back loosely before letting go and pulling back, leaving Karin slightly confused. He had always seemed to enjoy hanging out with her before. But now, he seemed distracted, almost like he didn't want to be there. She scowled to herself, but didn't let it show on her face.

"Are you alright? You seem… Preoccupied, Toshiro…" she said quietly, following him as he turned away. He looked back up at her with a neutral expression, not one of his usual scowls and was silent for a moment before he answered her.

"I'm fine, Karin. I was just… My mind was elsewhere…" he said blankly, staring off into space, and then into Karin's eyes. She really was pretty. Matsumoto had hit the nail right on the head with that one. It was true that Karin was hard to understand sometimes, and that she could be aggressive. He had read her school files. She had difficulty making friends and didn't get along well with others. Toshiro knew, though. Other people just couldn't appreciate her. He wasn't even sure if he could appreciate her fully. What did he really know about her, apart from what he had learned from his limited time spent with her, and the very few things that Ichigo had said about her?

"Well, I understand…" Karin said somewhat coldly, not sounding like she understood at all. "You're probably pretty busy, being a captain and all. I know Ichi-nii is busy all the time, too. It doesn't leave much time for friends, does it?" Karin asked offhandedly, waving her hand dismissively at Toshiro as she walked off toward the steps of Sokyoku Hill. "See ya' later, Toshiro."

"Wait! Karin!" Toshiro said loudly, causing Karin to turn around abruptly, and look at him. He seemed to have snapped out of his trance.

"I asked you here for a reason today. I can't leave until I've fulfilled that reason…" Toshiro said, cutting her off. She looked suspiciously at Toshiro.

"So, what? Are you going to tie me up here? Force me to listen to you?" Karin asked coldly, glaring at him. Toshiro sighed and shook his head.

"Of course not. You're free to go if you want to. I-I'd like it if you'd hear me out, though. I-it's kind of important."

"Well… If the genius captain of the Tenth Division says it's important, it must be so…" Karin said sarcastically. She was half joking. She wasn't really that angry at Toshiro. She knew full well that he could be socially clumsy sometimes.

"N-no… I-it isn't that… I-I just wanted to tell you that I-I really like you, and… W-will you go out with me?" he asked quickly, before his mind told his mouth to stop. He knew that if he allowed himself to stop halfway now, that he would never do it. Nevertheless, he was quite red and flustered by the time he finished.

Karin stared blankly for a moment and then walked over to him, giggling, very uncharacteristic of her, and she smiled coyly at him.

"Why, Captain Hitsugaya… You know, for an old man such as yourself, you aren't very experienced with asking women out, are you?" she asked with a laugh.

"I-I'm sorry I bothered you, then…" he muttered. Karin hadn't expected him to get this upset. At the most, she thought he'd be a little bit embarrassed.

"Hold on, Toshiro! I never said no! I've been waiting for you to ask me for a while, actually."

"What? Really?" Toshiro asked, shocked. "Then why didn't you just ask me!?"

"You really are ignorant! The boy is _always_ supposed to ask the girl. It's just the way it is… Now, come here for a moment, and wipe that stupid look off your face!" Karin said forcefully. Toshiro immediately complied. Nobody had ever had this kind of power over him before. He didn't get why he was obeying Karin's every command like that, hanging on every word she said. Once Toshiro made his way over to Karin, she smirked, and said, "took you long enough…" Then she grabbed his shoulder and kissed him on the lips, holding his head there, much to his surprise. After a moment, she let him go, only to watch him sputter helplessly for a moment before regaining his senses.

"W-w-why?" he asked, his face now crimson red. He felt sure that steam would be coming out of his ears any moment.

"Because you're cute when you get embarrassed like that." After a moment, Toshiro shook his head clear, and said, "do you mind if I k-kiss you again?"

"I didn't ask you, did I?" Karin said, raising an eyebrow. Toshiro smiled shyly and kissed Karin again. It felt good, he had to say. Heaven had nothing on this.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Ichigo walked out of Kurotsuchi's lab for what seemed like the millionth time. It was really only the second. But he had wanted to get his spirit power measured, and to do that, he had to go back into the lion's den, so to speak. He hated Kurotsuchi with all his being. The man was a foul, conniving, evil, twisted little man and everyone knew it. But no doubt he was still a genius. Ichigo had been hooked up to the reader machine, after a bit of… persuasion on his part. Ichigo had to convince Kurotsuchi that it was in his best interest to help him. Of course, that hadn't been easy, but he had done it nonetheless, mostly with thinly veiled threats and indirect and noncommittal offers to share Urahara's information with him. Ichigo was glad that he had gotten tested. His power was now 4,000. That was 3,000 more than the Shinigami maximum. Of course, since he had merged with his hollow half, one might expect him to be anywhere between 250 and 500 points above the max. Ichigo did have the shards in him, of course, and Urahara's power, which had been considerable, as well.

Ichigo sighed, and started walking out to Sokyoku Hill. It was his day off, so he didn't really have anything to do. It was also a beautiful day, and normally, he would have spent it with Rukia. But he hadn't seen her once. Mostly, he had been avoiding the places that she usually went. He wasn't sure that he wanted to see Rukia. It wasn't that he didn't love her. He loved her more than life itself. But being reminded that he had been such a miserable failure was a hard pill to swallow, especially when he had to swallow it every time he even saw Rukia. He wondered vaguely how she was doing. Now that she didn't have to worry about him, he figured that she was probably doing better than ever. He had figured wrong.

It had been a week since Ichigo had come back from his mission, and Rukia hadn't seen hide nor hair of him. She was starting to feel like maybe he was angry at her for yelling at him. They had their arguments, just like any couple, but usually, they were nothing that couldn't be worked out by talking about them. This time, though, he had seemed really hurt by what she said. She remembered his words as clearly as if they had been said just the day before.

"_I'm just not as smart as people like you and Orihime. Fighting is one of the few things that I'm good at."_

She wondered if maybe he had always felt like that, and she had just brought it out more in him, or if it was a more recent feeling of inadequacy. She hated feeling like she was the cause of his discontent. She wandered aimlessly through the streets of the Seireitei, not paying any real attention to where she was going. After all, it wasn't like anyone was really out that day. Even though it was a nice day, Soul Society was busy due to the news that a new ruler had taken over Las Noches, and that he was more powerful than any Hollow or Shinigami they had ever faced before. As such, she barely even noticed when she crashed right into Ichigo, and was knocked backwards.

Rukia absentmindedly stood up and looked around, seeing Ichigo there, but not registering him for a moment, until she noticed that he was trying to get away before she could spot him. She grabbed his wrist, though, and held tight, even though he tried to pull it away.

"Ichigo, please wait!!" Rukia pleaded. Seeing the tears filling her eyes, Ichigo stopped and turned around, looking intently at Rukia, who smiled sadly at him and hugged him tightly.

"You've been avoiding me…" she said in what she tried to make a stern voice, but came out sounding shaky and hurt.

"No, I haven't. I just… Haven't had much time out lately," he lied. Rukia sighed and looked at Ichigo.

"Don't lie, Ichigo. You aren't good at it, and it doesn't suit you. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. If it helps any, I never thought you weren't smart. I-I was just… worried about you. Part of me was excited when you became a captain… But part of me was scared. Captains are given the most dangerous and difficult assignments on the rare occasions that they come up. I didn't want to see you get hurt or killed. Is it so wrong to want to keep the person I love safe?"

"Rukia… I appreciate the sentiment, but I'm fine… really. The powers that Hollow displayed were new and unusual, but not unstoppable… I guess the major question is… do you trust me?"

"Of course I do… I've always trusted you, Ichigo. I-I don't like being apart from you. Maybe we could spend some time together today?"

"Sure. I was just headed to Sokyoku Hill…" Ichigo said, taking Rukia's hand and walking with her to Sokyoku Hill.

Ichigo felt something on top of Sokyoku Hill. It didn't feel that significant, and certainly it was harmless. It even seemed… happy. Maybe he wasn't the only one enjoying a day off by going up to the former Sokyoku to look out at the entire Soul Society. When they got to the top, though, Ichigo was shocked at what he had come across. Karin and Toshiro were still up there, making out by the stand for the Sokyoku.

"Captain Hitsugaya!? Karin!?" Ichigo shouted. The two looked up, startled by Ichigo's and Rukia's appearance.

"Rukia!? Ichi-nii!?" Karin yelped, jumping off of Toshiro and pulling her robe's sleeve back up onto her shoulder, as it had slipped slightly. They weren't about to have sex. But it sure as hell seemed that way.

"Captain Hitsugaya!? Karin-chan!?" Rukia said sharply.

"Captain Kurosaki!? Kuchiki!?" Toshiro yelled, falling over on his back after losing his balance from Karin jumping off of him

"Dumbledore!!!" A nude, silver bearded puppet said loudly, and rather stupidly.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" The four of them shouted at Dumbledore, who shrugged, and said, "Y'know, just doin' what comes natural! Strippin on stage and saying my own name like the dimwit that I am… Bye, now, younguns!" He said with a laugh, disappearing as quickly as he showed up, leaving the four to question why he had come at all.

"That was weird…" Ichigo said.

"And it's made even weirder by the fact that this is all scripted for us by Luppi-tan, one of the second rate writers who instead of writing his own storylines, follows an already well established one. Of course, even the great Luppi-tan is merely a pawn of the Divine Lord Kubo…" Karin said. The other three looked at her as if she was crazy, but then Rukia understood. She had forgotten all about the scene in front of them just moments before, and was fully focused on this.

"Do you think that this could mean that the Divine Lord Kubo is behind the deaths of Aizen, Gin, Tossen, Hinamori, Urahara, and Rin from the Research & Development department?" Rukia asked quietly, shuddering at the deviousness and insanity of the whole thing.

"I wouldn't doubt it for a moment," Toshiro said, who had already known for a long time. "The Divine Lord Kubo may be a deity among deities, but he is a cruel, and capricious ruler who would think nothing of harming, or even killing a character merely for his own sadistic entertainment…"

"Then… You mean that we're nothing but fictional characters, created for the sole purpose of entertaining the ignorant and idiotic masses!?" Ichigo fumed. The other three nodded in agreement.

"Actually, you've just about got it. But, if it makes you feel better, we are very real to each other, and because the Divine Lord Kubo has given us personalities, strengths, weakneses and other unique traits that define us, he has essentially given us souls that cause us to take on a level of reality that allows us to fully feel any pain or indeed, any sensation that the Divine Lord Kubo sees fit to thrust upon us," Rukia said, sounding rather pessimistic at the moment.

"This can work in our favor, though. All we have to do in order to defeat Arturo Plateado is tell him about the conspiracy, and then Kubo will have to kill him the next chance that he gets, i.e. the ensuing fight between him and Captain Kurosaki…" Toshiro said with a smirk. Then he looked at Karin. "None of us need be harmed, save perhaps for Captain Kurosaki. But that's a risk I'm willing to take."

"I'm glad _you're_ willing to take it! What about me, though!? Don't I get a say in this!?" Ichigo protested loudly. Toshiro rolled his eyes and groaned.

"Captain Kurosaki, it's for the good of the world. After all, we know that Plateado has at least five shards of the Sokyoku. He cannot be allowed to collect all of them. If he does, it will be all over for the world, and for Soul Society."

As if on cue, a dimensional portal opened up in the skies of Soul Society at that moment, and Arturo stepped out, accompanied by five Arrancar. Ichigo couldn't get a full read on them, but he could tell just by looking that their power was immense, and that this would be no easy battle. Soul Society had never prepared a contingeny for fighting five opponents, all of whom were twice as strong as Aizen, and one Arrancar that easily made Aizen look like a kitty cat. Ichigo knew who he had to fight. He was discussing the particulars of the conspiracy with Karin and Toshiro, but soon, he would have to go out on his own and fight the monster with his own power. He could sense that Arturo was more powerful than the last time that they met. At least twice as powerful. That was bad news for him. Ichigo knew that he was in for a fight like no other. He looked at Rukia, and spoke, "Rukia, try to clear everyone in the first twenty districts in each sector out. I can't guarantee their safety otherwise. This will get ugly. Get all captains and lieutenants ready to fight. Tell Kenpachi to take this fight seriously for once in his damn life!!"

With that, he shot off into the sky, releasing his Bankai immediately, and shooting a Getsuga Tensho with more power than Rukia could ever have imagined. If she hadn't known that it was Ichigo, she would have sworn that it was the Kami-sama himself fighting. The Getsuga Tensho hit Arturo dead on, but didn't do any major damage. Arturo frowned and shook his head, removing his sword from its sheath in his right hand, and creating an energy sword in his left, and attacking with a speed that Ichigo could barely keep up with. Ichigo had him right where he wanted him, though. He smirked and jumped back from the spot, using the moment of confusion to cast a Kidô spell.

"Bakudô 100! Ultimate Bankin!" Ichigo shouted, binding Arturo's arms behind his back, holding him in place with such power that he wouldn't possibly be able to escape.

"Now, you are going to listen while I make a stereotypically longwinded speech that is always given by the protagonist to explain why the antagonist is wrong to be doing what they are doing. Please listen and do not interrupt… Now, all that you think you know is essentially a lie. There is a much larger world beyond what we know. We are basically nothing more than pawns, fabrications of the Divine Lord Kubo's vast imagination. He creates all, knows all, and sees all. And he is a beneficent and magnanimous being, so long as nobody learns too much. Once someone knows too much, they are instantly placed on his list. And people who are on his list are liable to be killed one way or another. Whether in the real world by an assassin, or in this world by an inexplicable plothole that nonetheless seems suspiciously conveniently placed to advance the plot. This conspiracy spreads far and wide, and few know about it, or there would be far fewer people in our world. However, you are merely a piece on a living chessboard for the Divine Lord Kubo, moving around at his whim for his entertainment. You think it's impossible? It's not. The power that Kubo holds knows no bounds, and now that you know, you will die. Most likely in this battle with me. It's funny how life works, isn't it?"

"W-wait!! Y-you're going to die, too!! You also know about the Divine Lord Kubo's plan!"

"You think I didn't prepare for that? I won't die. At least not yet. Since I am the main character, and direly important to the plotline, Kubo would need to figure out a way to end the entire plotline with my death. To kill me would mean to end the story, and he's likely having too much fun right now. Do you see? You don't stand a chance. But just to prove how doomed you really are, I will release the Bakudô that binds you, and allow you to continue fighting me. Ultimate Bankin, release!"

Suddenly, the spell was cancelled, and Arturo gasped in relief, shooting a powerful Cero at Ichigo, appearing to hit him dead on. But then Ichigo appeared behind Arturo and fired the same kind of Cero that the girl had fired, crushing Arturo's right arm. Arturo howled in agony and turned around, grimacing hatefully at the Shinigami captain. He used Sonido to take Ichigo by surprise, and stabbed Ichigo in the back, only to find that the sword wouldn't pierce Ichigo's flesh. Ichigo turned around and sighed.

"Hierro. It's a real bitch, ain't it?"

"NO!! YOU WILL BE BUT ASH BEFORE THE MIGHT OF FENIX!!! BURN, FENIX!!" Arturo roared, and blue flames erupted around him, fully engulfing him, and destroying almost half of the Seireitei in the process. He then used Sonido to attack Ichigo, slashing at him and hitting him dead on, cutting him deeply in the process, and burning him severely. Ichigo's regenerative abilities because of the Hollow powers in him began working immediately, repairing the damaged flesh, but still, it was a slow job. Ichigo blocked the next attack, and slashed at Arturo, doing another Getsuga Tensho with his Bankai, then using Shunpo to get behind him and do another Getsuga Tensho so that they crashed into each other, creating a huge explosion. Ichigo then fired a Gran Rey Cero into the epicenter, and he heard a shriek of rage and agony. Despite that, though, Arturo came out. He was badly injured, but still standing, and enraged to the point of madness.

"You will pay, Kurosaki Ichigo!! YOU WILL PAY!!!" he shrieked furiously, sending Cero after Cero at Ichigo, all of which Ichigo dodged expertly before taking Arturo's back and slashing, using another Getsuga Tensho to finish him off. As he screamed his death throes, at least fifty shards glistened in the air, and then buried themselves in Ichigo's body, causing him to nearly explode with the newfound energy.

After a few moments, Ichigo came down and surveyed the Soul Society. It would take some work to fix it, but nothing that Orihime couldn't handle. She was amazing at fixing and healing, after all. Now, though, he had another mission to undertake. He had to destroy the Divine Lord Kubo. It was a scary prospect. After all, what would happen to him once Kubo was dead? Would he fade from existence? Or perhaps, like in a dictatorship, after the tyrant was overthrown, the people would organize themselves as they saw fit. He went over to Rukia and kissed her, before focusing on the Divine Lord Kubo in his mind. Instantly, he teleported there, and was instantly noticed by Kubo, who grinned soullessly, and spoke. "Greetings, _captain_. It is good to finally meet you. I suppose that you are here… to overthrow me? To kill me? You couldn't even kill my second in command. Oh, Quagmire!"

"Yeah, Lord Kubo!?" came a bright, perverted voice from the other room. He then walked in, whistling all the way.

"Could you show Captain Kurosaki what we do with people who betray us? I'll give you Rukia-chan once you're done. I know that you've had your eye on her."

"Giggity, giggity, gig-gi-ty! Heh, heh, alriiiight! Eh, sorry 'bout this, Ichigo. I'm just followin' orders. Sex dolls, attack!!" he shouted. Ichigo drew his sword and slashed a sex doll in two, utterly destroying it under the sheer weight of his spiritual pressure. Ichigo then used a burst version of Getsuga Tensho and vaporized all of the other dolls.

"Oh, fer fuck's sake! Ya jus' can't get good sex dolls anymore! Ya' hafta do everything yerself!" Quagmire said angrily, pulling a twin set of vibrating twelve inch dildos out of his pockets and attacking Ichigo.

"Power word, orgasm!!" Quagmire shouted viciously. Suddenly, Ichigo inexplicably began to cum in his pants over and over again, and he found that he could barely move, or do anything, save for writhing on the floor in unwanted pleasure. He'd have a hard time explaining _that_ to Rukia later.

"Prismatic bondage!!" Quagmire said with ruthless glee, as Ichigo was bound and gagged by prismatic ropes and a gag. Then, Quagmire was on him, beating him mercilessly with the two dildos with a strength that Ichigo wouldn't have thought possible.

"Heh, heh! I'm a master of sadomasochism! Giggity, giggity, goo!!" Quagmire said, laughing maniacally as he tried to pull down Ichigo's pants and force the dildo in his ass. Ichigo used an unspoken Kidô, though, and blasted Quagmire off of him, and destroyed the ropes that had previously bound him. He then went on the offensive, ignoring his pants, which were soaked and heavy with cum and very uncomfortable. He attacked, anyway, though, using a Shunpo to take Quagmire by surprise and cut his head from his body with one smooth stroke. In a final "giggity!" Quagmire collapsed to the ground, dead. Kubo sighed.

"Ah, well. Guess I'll have to do this myself, then…" he said, standing up and pulling out what looked suspiciously like a Zanpakuto. He then used his other hand to create a bow. At Ichigo's shock, Kubo nodded.

"How did you think I became so powerful? By sitting on my ass and drawing cartoons all day? No! I know all techniques and powers representative of every spiritually aware group in Bleach, even Hime-chan's ability to reject any event. Unfortunately, I cannot heal myself like that. But, alas, such was not meant to be. Goodbye, Kurosaki Ichigo."

With that, Kubo attacked by firing a rapid stream of millions of spirit arrows that seemed to be deflected by the walls, which had a reflective shine to them. Ichigo dodged all of the arrows, and shot a Kuro Getsuga Tensho at Kubo. Kubo just yawned, and rejected it using Orihime's abilities. Ichigo cursed. Was there no way to defeat this guy?"

"Kurosaki Ichigo, you should know before I kill you just how powerful I really am. My spiritual power is somewhere around 100,000. Of course, my specialty is in attacking and preventing attacks. If you actually managed to hit me, I'd probably die almost immediately. My skin, not being an actual Shinigami, or a Hollow, is quite vulnerable to attack. Have fun with that tidbit while I kill you."

With that, Kubo launched a Dawn of Megiddo at Ichigo, which Ichigo managed to block with a Bakudô 101. Ichigo kept up the Kidô and then jumped out of the way of another attack, guarding himself for a moment while he thought. He didn't have much time. He would have to work quickly. The walls were reflective. They couldn't be destroyed by spiritual attacks. That meant that if he aimed true, he might be able to hit Kubo on a rebound of one of his attacks. He jumped out, releasing the shield, and gathering all of his spirit energy, both Hollow and Shinigami into one last attack. He knew he had to make it count, so he aimed carefully, considering the course that the attack would take, and anything that might interrupt it. Then, he fired, a Gran Rey Cero mixed with a Kuro Getsuga Tensho, fuelled by every bit of his spirit energy that he could spare. It went straight past Kubo, who smirked and laughed at Ichigo's poor aim, but was blasted and obliterated less than a second later by the attack on the rebound. As Kubo was disintegrated, he screamed in fury as the remaining pieces of the Sokyoku were transferred into Ichigo's body.

Ichigo had done what nobody would have thought possible. He had destroyed Kubo, and gathered together the pieces of the Sokyoku. He felt the power flowing through him. It felt unreal, like he was completely different. But, he could worry about that later. He had to get back to Soul Society to help clean up after Arturo's attack… If it wasn't already done. Ichigo sighed and teleported back to the Seireitei, to find that indeed the entire Soul Society was repaired, all done by Orihime, who had done it all in five minutes with her powers.

Rukia ran over to Ichigo and hugged him tightly, kissing him passionately on the lips. They didn't even notice that Toshiro and Karin had gone back to making out. Not that Ichigo really would have minded. Toshiro was a nice person, and it was really none of his business who his sister dated. He smiled at Rukia as the two pulled away and embraced. Ichigo couldn't wait to tell Rukia what had happened. But, it would have to wait until Ichigo could get a change of clothes. He disappeared from Rukia's arms and quickly changed, then reappeared almost as quickly as he had gone, leaving Rukia to wonder if he had ever left at all.

"So, what happened!? Are we doomed!?" Rukia asked excitedly, but also slightly nervously. Ichigo shook his head.

"Nah. We just have to figure out everything for ourselves, now. Shouldn't be too hard, right?"

**The End**

A/N: I hope you enjoyed it. It sure as hell took me forever to write. I feel, though, that it's one of the best ones I've done in a long time, though, so please read and review. I invite any _constructive_ criticism. Flames, however, will be completely ignored. You have been forewarned.


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